Director Christopher Nolan wants his Tenet star John David Washington for the role of Green Lantern, saying the actor “would be an excellent choice” as the superhero.
A Green Lantern is in development, both as a TV series and movie, for the DC Extended Universe. DC and Warner Bros have plans to restart the franchise following Ryan Reynolds’ failed 2011 film.
In an interview, while promoting Tenet with Geeks of Color, Washington received a question about playing the superhero. The actor pointed to Nolan for the answer, who said that Washington gets his vote as Green Lantern.
The director had nothing but praises for Washington and said that he’s extraordinarily talented and professional on the set of Tenet. The physical demands of doing movie fitted well with Washington’s athleticism. Beyond that, his focus on the seriousness of the role showed Nolan the measures the actor took to prepare for the movie.
No more DC films
Nolan, however, won’t get to direct Washington in Green Lantern. The director said that his “DC days are over” after doing The Dark Knight trilogy.
The director had a chance to do a fourth Batman film but turned down DC’s offer. Speaking with the BAFTA in 2019, Nolan said that he was given the luxury of time to do a superhero movie, but that’s not possible today.
“I think it was the last time that anyone was able to say to a studio, ‘I might do another one, but it will be four years.’ There’s too much pressure on release schedules to let people do that now,” Nolan said. “We had the privilege and advantage to develop as people and as storytellers and then bring the family back together,” he remarked about the creative process of superhero films before the DCEU franchise.
Details of the TV show
It might be a while before a Green Lantern movie gets the green light but HBO Max teased the upcoming TV series during the DC FanDome event. The show will come from Greg Berlanti, the man behind The CW’s Arrowverse franchise.
Green Lantern will reportedly take place in another multiverse, Earth-12. A possible crossover with Arrow’s John Diggle is reportedly in the works. This was teased in the show’s series finale, where Diggle, played by David Ramsey, received a green ring for his new adventure.
According to reports, characters like Simon Baz, Kyle Rayner, Jessica Cruz and Guy Gardner are expected to appear in the HBO Max series as well. The streaming platform plans to debut Green Lantern in 2021 but no casting announcements are out as of press time.
Image used courtesy of Warner Bros/YouTube