“It Would Have Been Great”: Green Lantern Director Addresses How He Thinks The 2011 DC Movie Could Have Been Saved

Green Lantern director Martin Campbell reflects on how he thinks the DC movie could have been saved and avoided the results it received in 2011. Prior to the launch of the DCEU movie timeline, Warner Bros. was attempting to bring a franchise to life for one of DC’s most iconic Justice League characters through 2011’s Green Lantern. However, the Hal Jordan-centric film ended up with negative reviews among critics while also becoming a box office failure.

In a new interview with The Direct, Campbell looked back on Green Lantern and its overall legacy in the superhero genre today. While understanding the criticism against it, Campbell stressed that he still had a great time working on it with Ryan Reynolds, so much so that he wished that the Hollywood star had been the one to write the script, as he shared the following:

Oh, it’s fair enough. You know, look, people didn’t like it. It failed, right? I was the director, so, you know, obviously I take the heat for it, which is fine… But all I can say is, Ryan’s a very funny guy, very fun. We actually had a terrific time on the film. I thoroughly enjoyed working with him and with Blake Lively. She was terrific as well. And he’s always, he’s got a great whip, you know, Ryan. In fact, I wish to God he had written the script, and it would have been great. But he’s always taking jabs at it. And fair enough. Though, listen, it was a big success for him because he met Blake Lively.

What Martin Campbell’s Ryan Reynolds Comments Mean For Green Lantern

Even though Reynolds has poked fun at Green Lantern in tons of interviews and through his ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool movies, Campbell makes a point about how the actor would have been a great addition to the creative team. While there are many takeaways from the ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool trilogy, one of the driving factors behind why they worked was because of how involved Reynolds was behind the scenes. Though the Green Lantern movie has redeemable parts, it’s no secret that the film struggled with fully embracing the source material, which potentially wouldn’t have happened had Reynolds had creative input on the script.

With Reynolds also redeeming ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool’s on-screen reputation after his divisive movie debut in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, it’s possible that his efforts on Green Lantern could have also helped address elements of the story that proved controversial among audiences. It’s also possible that Greg Berlanti – who confirmed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2016 that he was fired from the project both as a writer and director – remaining involved in creating Green Lantern could have seen a different result for it, based on Berlanti’s later work in The CW’s Arrowverse.

Our Take On Martin Campbell’s Green Lantern Comments

Image of Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern smirking.

Given what the world has seen from Reynolds since 2011’s Green Lantern, it would have been a huge deal if he had been able to work with the creative team as a writer. While the movie sadly grounded the Emerald Knight from having a large presence on the big screen, the DC Universe’s Green Lantern plans are already showing that they are heading in the right direction. Hopefully, the DCU will do everything in its power to learn from the Green Lantern movie, as Hal Jordan, John Stewart, and Guy Gardner get ready to debut in James Gunn’s reboot.