Despite DC’s stumble in the superhero arena this summer, Warner Bros. is reluctant to let the Green Lantern play second fiddle to his Marvel counterparts. A script for a sequel was written by Greg Berlanti, Michael Green and Marc Guggenheim. Aapparently, it has been “handed in” to the studio and features a much darker tale this time around. The three writers also worked on the first film, so they are in tune (or out of tune depending on how you feel about it) with the origins and the universe of the Green Lantern.
News of the sequel comes as a surprise due to the underwhelming performance of the movie along with its critical reception. In all fairness however, it did make enough money to not be considered a bomb and it wasn’t a horrendous waste of time. It was unfortunately a routine experience that was juvenile in approach and devoid of any real excitement or joy.
The casting was good enough to carry over to a direct sequel and if the story focuses on the character of Sinestro and his Yellow Lantern Corps, it has a lot of potential for success. The origin story for any hero is always limited and Green Lantern at least did a good job of setting the stage for a more action packed part two where Jordan can hopefully become a more fleshed out personality (along with Lively, who got the short shift as well in the first film).
The studio is searching for a new director to take the reins if the sequel gets the greenlight. Martin Campbell‘s contract does allow him to attempt a follow up if he wants to but after getting bashed the first time around, it seems unlikely that he’ll return.
It looks like Green Lantern 2 is basically a guarantee at this point. Whether that’s a good thing or bad thing doesn’t really matter since Hollywood always has its own agenda. Let’s just hope that the filmmakers learn from the mistakes of the first one.
