Lanterns: Should the DCU's Hal Jordan Be Older?

As a fan with over three decades of comics under my belt, I’ve seen Green Lantern soar through the cosmos and crash land more times than I can count. The news about Josh Brolin being offered the role has me all tingly with anticipation!

In the upcoming years, James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Universe is poised for growth with numerous movies and series based on renowned DC characters. The initial television production under this umbrella will be “Lanterns,” a live-action adaptation of the Green Lantern lore, being developed by Damon Lindelof, Tom King, and Chris Mundy. Recently, casting rumors surrounding the project emerged, suggesting that Josh Brolin, known for his roles as Thanos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Cable in Fox’s X-Men Universe, and Jonah Hex in Warner Bros.’ 2010 standalone movie, has been extended an offer to play Hal Jordan / Green Lantern.

As a gamer, I’ve got to say, it’s all speculation at this point about Brolin playing Hal in the series. Neither Gunn nor anyone else connected with the project has confirmed it yet. An offer doesn’t automatically rule out other actors being considered too. But if the rumors are true, it’s intriguing to see a seasoned actor like Brolin in the running for Hal. If he does get the role, it could suggest DC Studios is looking at an older age range for Hal. That raises an interesting question: Could Hal Jordan be introduced as an older character in the DC Universe?

In comic books, it’s often unclear how old characters like Hal (Green Lantern) are due to their long-running stories. However, his backstory – specifically becoming a test pilot and later the Green Lantern – typically depicts him as being in his twenties or thirties. There have been instances where he appears slightly older, such as in “Green Lantern: Earth One” and during his time as Parallax, with a silver-white streak of hair. But generally speaking, when fans imagine Hal, they envision him around the same age as most Justice League members.

As a devoted gamer, I can’t help but reflect on the various attempts to bring Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern, to life in previous failed projects. Names like Mark Wahlberg and Tom Cruise have been tossed around by fans and insiders alike. Yet, these dreams never materialized into reality. However, each suggestion had its merit – to place Hal among the established heroes and villains of the DCEU, creating a more noticeable age gap between him and John Stewart, and distinguishing his origin story from Ryan Reynolds’ 2011 Green Lantern movie.

As a die-hard DC fan, I ponder over the intriguing dilemma posed by Gunn and Safran’s fresh take on the DC Universe: should the traditional goals remain intact? The casting for our beloved DCU heroes leans towards a multigenerational approach, with David Corenswet’s Clark Kent/Superman being in his late twenties or early thirties. Even the Green Lantern we already know from the franchise, 53-year-old Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, is older than usual for the comics, yet can be justified by how the DCU represents the Justice League and the Justice League International. If Hal Jordan is indeed portrayed in his forties or fifties in the DCU, it might allow for some of his history to be pre-established, but might also mean we miss out on certain storylines and relationships unfolding on screen. This could drastically alter Hal’s bond with John, shifting from a minor age difference and life experiences to a significant generational gap.

This statement suggests the third objective we’ve mentioned earlier, which is creating something distinct from the 2011 Green Lantern movie. It might not be wise to make the next live-action Green Lantern adaptation a polar opposite of the 2011 film just because it was criticized and failed financially. Over a decade has passed since its release, and most people remember its poor reputation (and jokes about it in Deadpool movies) more than specific plot details. Those who do recall the Green Lantern plot realize that it barely touched upon Hal Jordan’s mythos, let alone the larger Green Lantern lore. If a contemporary live-action Hal Jordan were to be portrayed as either a novice or at his peak, it wouldn’t necessarily retread old ground; instead, it would offer an opportunity for a do-over and getting things right this time around. This idea is similar to the main point in Patrick H. Willems’ 2018 video on modern Robin Hood and King Arthur adaptations – there’s usually no need to twist something that general audiences aren’t already well-versed in.

That being said, all of this discourse around the casting of DCU Hal Jordan is still missing a lot of context — for starters, context on whether or not it’s actually true. But if it is, there still are the questions of what the franchise’s larger history looks like, what the history of the Justice League looks like, and what role Hal could have in Gunn and Safran’s larger story. It’s also worth mentioning that Lindelof has experience expertly following up on DC superheroes decades after their prime, as evident by Jean Smart’s Emmy-nominated take on Laurie Blake / Silk Spectre in Watchmen. We’ll ultimately have to wait and see what the future holds — both for Hal Jordan, and for the actor who ends up playing him.

2024-09-03 05:39

Lanterns: Should the DCU’s Hal Jordan Be Older?

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