Recent rumors might be a bad sign for Lanterns, a DCU serial that DC Studios has yet to finalize any casting for or announce any official plans outside the writer’s room.
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The only thing we can confirm is Josh Brolin passed on the role of Hal Jordan. By the sound of that, it can reported or at least inferred with considerable accuracy that they are looking for a middle-aged actor to play a seasoned Hal.
But that’s not the only thing they are allegedly changing for this show. According to ComicBookCast on YouTube, John Stewart won’t just be Hal’s partner protecting the Sector.
Stewart is said to be a young rookie “hothead” of roughly 30 “who doesn’t take crap off anybody” unlike his comic book and animated counterparts. Therefore, he will have Hal as his mentor to coach and rein him in.
CBC calls this “a controversial decision, if true” and compares it to creatives getting their wires crossed about The Flash, for example. Wally West is the wisecracking one so it would be odd to see him as serious as Barry Allen.
Let’s remember that already happened in the DCEU, but in reverse, with Ezra Miller’s sardonic and immature portrayal of Barry in two cuts of Justice League and a solo movie that flopped.
The Lanterns rumor was originally disseminated by scooper Jeff Sneider (who also said Italian director Luca Guadanigno is being considered for a DCU project, which we will certainly have more to say about if the speculation bears fruit).
Sneider claimed that Brolin, Matthew McConaughey, and Ewan McGregor were up for the role of Hal. Again, Brolin turned it down and the other two either did the same or rotated out of consideration.
New intel comes from X user Apocalyptic Horseman who posits, “Although McConaughey is on the short list, he’s not the next choice. It’s in fact Chris Pine. Also on the list is Timothy Olyphant.”
Pine who played Steve Trevor is a DC film veteran, so he would make a lot of sense – unless he is burned out on superheroes or on the off chance Warner Bros. lost his number. We even fantasy-cast once upon a time.
Olyphant is not a bad choice either since he is known more as a television actor and could have a cheaper asking price than a big-name movie star.
All that aside, if the way John Stewart is written turns out to be too divergent or anathema to his stalwart fans, how old Hal Jordan is and who plays him will be the least to worry about when it comes to Lanterns.
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