Green Lantern 2: Why Ryan Reynolds' DC Sequel Never Happened
Ryan Reynolds notably played DC’s Green Lantern in the 2011 movie, with several factors contributing to why Green Lantern 2 never happened. Before Ben Affleck’s Batman and Henry Cavill’s Superman revamped the Justice League franchise, Warner Bros. tried its hand at an origin story for Green Lantern/Hal Jordan. The 2011 Green Lantern starred Reynolds as Hal Jordan and Blake Lively as his love-interest Carol Ferris, whose pairing in this film would be memorable as they later became one of Hollywood’s most popular married couples.
As with any franchise-starting material nowadays, Green Lantern was originally going to receive a sequel to continue Hal Jordan’s story with Ryan Reynolds reprising his role, had the film been well-received. Warner Bros. intended for Green Lantern to be the first installment in a new DC film universe, following in the steps of Iron Man kicking off the MCU Phase 1. The end-credits for Green Lantern even set up the never-to-be-made sequel in which Sinestro (Mark Strong) is corrupted by the dark power of the yellow ring of fear after its resurgence.
By almost all accounts, Green Lantern was regarded as a failure within the superhero film industry. Although the movie went on to make $219.9 million at the box office, it underperformed against its budget of $200 million - The Hollywood Reporter estimated that Green Lantern would’ve had to make about $500 million to be considered a success. Additionally, Green Lantern was panned by critics and audiences alike with generally negative reviews, currently holding a mere 26% from critics and 45% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. The overall consensus was that Green Lantern was wildly disappointing for its large budget, with many critics recounting its misuse of comic book lore, thin screenplay, and reliance on special effects and sound over substance.
Once the news hit of Green Lantern’s box office flop and poor reception by critics and fans, Warner Bros. canceled the planned sequel. When Man of Steel was arranged to kickoff the DCEU, screenwriter David S. Goyer suggested that Green Lantern’s inclusion in the universe would be a reboot, abandoning Reynolds’ iteration, though Zack Snyder did tease almost bringing Reynolds back as Green Lantern in 2017's Justice League. Another reason for the canceled sequel was Reynolds’ lack of interest in reprising his role, having a clear distaste for the film himself. Reynolds has also previously advised fans on Twitter to not watch Green Lantern, only having seen it himself for the first time in March 2021. Additionally, Deadpool 2’s end-credits scene featured a meta Easter egg in which the character shoots Ryan Reynolds while he reads the Green Lantern script to prevent him from starring in the movie.
Although Green Lantern bombed for audiences and critics alike, Ryan Reynolds' Hal Jordan performance still showed he had the capacity to helm a superhero movie, leading to his most notable character to date: Deadpool. Had Green Lantern gone ahead with a sequel that likely would have produced the same disappointing outcome, Reynolds may not have been able to escape the association of his DC superhero and later been recruited to play the well-received Wade Wilson. Reynolds’ case is another of the notable transitions from DC to Marvel or vice-versa that worked out better for the actor, such as Tom Hardy first playing DC’s Bane before becoming Marvel’s Venom or Affleck going from portraying Marvel’s Daredevil to the major slot of the DCEU’s Batman.
Now that HBO Max is moving forward with a Green Lantern TV series following multiple human Green Lanterns, including Finn Wittrock’s Guy Gardner, the DCEU finally has a chance to redeem the character(s) after a decade of being on the sidelines. Green Lantern has shown up in other DC projects like Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Stargirl, and through Easter eggs on Arrow, but the HBO Max series will be the first big-budget Warner Bros. project since Reynolds’ Green Lantern that primarily focuses on the superhero (and his corps).