Movies I'd like to see Vol.2

Green Lantern

While Warner Brothers has found an incredible smash hit in The Dark Knight (something I will admit caught me off guard, I can't believe that movie made that much money), the truth is they haven't really done a good job mining the portfolio of characters they have in DC Comics. They botched Superman, and made a questionable decision in going for a Catwoman solo movie. Soon they will release a movie based on Watchmen, which is not a movie based in characters of the DC Universe.

I believe that while Wonder Woman might be tricky to translate to the big screen (but it must be done!), other characters like Flash, but more specifically, Green Lantern, are just begging to be made into successful movies. A few years ago there were plans to make a comedy with Green Lantern, but thankfully that idea was dropped. Now, with the success of The Dark Knight, Warner has said they want to make more "mature" superhero movies since people responded so well to the "darkness" in TDK. I don't know if they are aware that darkness wont fit a Wonder Woman or Flash movie.

I've always said that Green Lantern already has a story that could be easily translated into a trilogy. Of course the only way these movies would work requires Warner not to go for the cheap route and probably make the most expensive movies ever. On the other hand, Green Lantern lends itself perfectly to have countless toy lines to tie-in with movie. Unlike Superman, who really doesn't need any accessories like weapons or vehicles, the Green Lanterns can make "energy constructs" of anything they can imagine, not to mention there are over 7000 different Green Lanterns, of all sorts of alien races, that come in all shapes and forms.

Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn

The first movie would be more or less the standard origin story. We would learn how test pilot Hal Jordan, after surviving a near fatal plane accident with an alien ship, finds a moribond, red-skinned alien that gives him a ring that is the most powerful weapon in the universe.

This would take Jordan to Oa, the Headquarters of the Green Lantern Corps, an intergalactic police force ruled by the Guardians of the Universe. As in all cop movies the rookie is assigned to work with a veteran Lantern, and quite possibly the greatest of them all: Siniestro (yeah, the name is a dead give-away that he will become our bad guy). While spending a short period of time as a wide-eyed rookie traveling around the universe and fighting alien crime, Hal Jordan should soon start to suspect his mentor, and later unmask him to the rest of the Guardians and the Corps.

With Siniestro defeated, Jordan takes his place as the greatest Green Lantern.

Green Lantern: Emerald Twilight

The second movie should start with a huge alien invasion on Earth and Hal defending his hometown, Coast City. Considering it is a worldwide in alien invasion, there could be passing comments and even flash cameos of other DC comics characters. Jordan at first, arrogantly refuses help from other Lanterns or heroes, and while the alien invasion is ultimately drove away, his city is oblierated. All his loved ones gone.

Torn by pain and anguish he tries to use his ring to bring back to life the millions that died in Coast City, and for a brief moment succeeds, but the Guardians pull the plug on this. Alledging that he is using his power for personal gain, the guardians send a small contingency of Lanterns to bring Jordan for questioning, what Jordan takes as an insult and refuses to surrender himself. Having to fight other the Lanterns that wanted to capture him, finally drives him out of his mind... and sets his eye on going to Oa, to take down the Guardians (and every Lantern that might be in his path there), and take all the power of the Cetral Battery for himself. That way no one would be able to stop him from repairing the damage done to Coast City.

While the Guardians and all the Green Lanterns put up a fight in Oa, Hal Jordan willpower makes him an unstoppable force. Those Lanterns that don't lose their rings, die fighting, and the Guardians finally fall to Jordan's might. One Guardian, Ganthet is able to sneak away, and escape to Earth, figuring that the only way to stop an earthman is with another earthman. Weakened he hands 1 remaining ring to the first person he sees: graphic designer Kyle Rayner.

The movie ends with Hal Jordan having almost god-like powers, but knowing he needs that 1 ring to really be able to do anything, even reshape the whole universe.

Green Lantern: Emerald... Night? Knights? A New Dawn? (I don't know)

Ganthet explains the situation to Kyle Rayner and how he is the only hope of the Universe, to which Rayner responds with fear and denial. Ganthet explains that fear is the worst thing that a ring bearer can feel, because it weakens it's power. Ganthet forces his will into the reluctant young hero, beginning a trial by fire so that Rayner might be prepared for the moment Jordan returns to reclaim that final ring.

In the meantime mad with power Jordan is not looking for Ganthet or the ring, but instead hunts around the galaxies the colonizing alien fleet that destroyed Coast City, and makes them pay for all the deaths and pain they caused. Unknowingly giving time to Ganthet and the last Green Lantern to train.

When the final confrontation between Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner occurs, I'm not sure how would a poorly trained guy with a weapon he barely comprehends would be able to stop the greatest Green Lantern with god-like powers. The ring is powered by willpower, but limited by imagination, I figure a graphic designer has more imagination than a military pilot. Anyways, in the end Hal was never really evil, just blinded by pain and confusion, he would surrender his powers to Kyle Rayner, realizing the pure intentions of this new guy, and how much damage he has done himself.

Rayner with unlimited powers now, considers making it so that any of it ever happens. Re-writting history, so that Coast City was never destroyed, so Jordan would never go insane, and he would never get the huge responsability of becoming a god. Ganthet stops him, remiding him that he can't do that, that there si no real difference between that an what Jordan wanted to do, that lessons must be learned or history would just repeat itself. Kyle finally decides to reignite the Central Battery in Oa, effectively deplenishing his powers to a "normal" state. Hal Jordan is willingly imprisioned inside the Central Battery where he would never be able to escape. With the Battery back online the Guardians come back to life, and start plans to rebuild the Corps with Kyle Rayner at the head.


I think that a movie saga where the hero of the first film becomes the villian is relatively unique, and would blow some peoples mind. Well, Anakin Skywalker goes thru a similar situation in the Star Wars prequels, but everyone knew he would become Darth Vader, and he wasn't the hero in Episode 1, so maybe its not that similar. The other thing is that you couldn't do this with any other superhero. You can't make that with Superman, Spider-Man not even with Wolverine, but Green Lantern being a small army of characters allows this story to happen.

I, for one, was always a huge fan of Kyle Rayner, and thought that Hal Jordan was a dull, square character typical of the silver age. I had just migrated from reading Marvel to reading DC when the Emerald Twilight story happened in the comics, and Kyle Rayner was the guest-star in the first Superman comic I got after deciding I was tired of Marvel. So I'm terribly biased to that story. Now, if movie audiences are anything like the people that read comics, people just wont accept Hal Jordan going down as a villian. For 10 years fan of Hal Jordan demanded their hero to be brought back to the comics, and finally DC gave in. Which brings me to:

Green Lantern: Siniestro Corps ('cause trilogies these days never stop at 3 anymore)

I admit that an ending where the hero is imprisoned forever might be hard to swallow for the general audiences, so there could be a fourth movie to redeem the character of Hal Jordan. Based in the fairly recent and successful Siniestro Corps War storyline of the comics. I don't know this story all that well, since I don't read that much comics anymore, but roughly it is about the old mentor and enemy of Hal Jordan, Siniestro, coming back with an army of ring-bearers of his own to fight the seemingly weakened Green Lanterns. In the movie, unlike the comics, Kyle Rayner would be the only established Green Lantern and the rest only rookies. This would force the Guardians to release the only man capable of stopping Siniestro: Hal Jordan.