Rumor: Ryan Reynolds In Talks to Cameo as Green Lantern in the Snyder Cut of Justice League

Warner Bros. holds onto anything from its DC cinematic past as long as it can wring a little out of it – whatever is left. They are willing to even if the thing in question isn’t looked upon as any good.

And that thing this time is Ryan Reynolds’ portrayal of Green Lantern in 2011. Scooper and YouTuber Grace Randolph heard from two sources Reynolds is negotiations to cameo in Zack Snyder’s Justice League as Sector 2814’s Emerald Guardian.

Randolph tweeted, “I can confirm the #SnyderCut cameo I’ve been teasing is indeed Ryan Reynolds for #GreenLantern!!”

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Randolph also predicted the suit would look better in the Snyder Cut. “It’s Snyder, of course it will,” she wrote.

Reynolds may stand in for the scene where Alfred (Jeremy Irons) says to someone in the Batcave “Let’s hope you’re not too late.” Though in the trailer, the clip never made it into the theatrical release completed by Joss Whedon and didn’t blossom into a finished sequence.

Reportedly, Alfred was talking to a Lantern and the role was intended for Armie Hammer. It then passed to a lesser-known actor who later got a smaller part as a guard in the Whedon cut.

In Brightest Day and Blackest Night

What exactly Reynolds’ presence will mean is unsure. It’s not clear if Reynolds will play his previous iteration of Hal Jordan or if they will wipe the 2011 film from continuity.

It could be the Green Lantern film would, however retroactively, be the start of Warner’s shared DC multiverse – as was the plan at the time – tying into Snyder’s continuity in the process.

Or the casting could be an homage of sorts to the idea I just laid out. At worst, it’s a participation trophy for the attempt a decade back (you did good, Ryan).

Related Rumor: Green Lantern Corps Still in “Active Development” at Warner Bros.

Otherwise, somewhere in the middle, Reynolds popping up in the Snyder Cut is a recognition of a small victory for him and WB. When you think about it, as poorly as Green Lantern performed, the film never really went away like so many failures.

Nobody forgot about it (writing about it, I certainly haven’t); admittedly, that’s reality. We wouldn’t be talking about it and Reynolds certainly wouldn’t have lampooned his turn as Hal every chance he got as Deadpool.

In all seriousness, his satire helped keep the memory alive – although the hint of truth in the gags and their pointedness is a reflection of the popular opinion of the GL movie. That’s probably not good for the buzz WB and AT&T hope for.

Talks with Reynolds likely started as a directive from AT&T as opposed to Warner execs. The company has lately shown more comfort with making geekier decisions as long as it serves the bottom line and the HBO Max venture.

And they’ve been unpredictable in that regard; just look at the bomb dropped this week in the form of Michael Keaton and The Flash. There are heavy implications with that situation if a deal is reached.

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Green Lantern is incorporated into the Arrow multiverse as we saw at the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths. Perceived as a lead-in or tease of HBO Max’s GL series, the brief clips will mean a whole lot more if Reynolds cameos in Snyder’s Justice League.

Come 2021 or sooner, we shall see.