Comic Con Movies: Green Lantern Panel

The footage was short and DC's Geoff Johns didn't have any surprises, but The Green Lantern panel drummed up a decent amount of enthusiasm for the June 2011 film. On the panel was Johns, producer Donald Deline, director Martin Campbell, writer Greg Berlanti and stars Ryan Reynolds (Hal Jordan aka The Green Lantern), Blake Lively (Carol Ferris), Peter Sarsgaard (Hector Hammond) and Mark Strong (Sinestro).

Johns started the panel by introducing about a minute-long clip which featured some aliens and a shot of the Guardians' planet Oa, but little of the Green Lantern suit. Not surprising, considering this movie hasn't even wrapped shooting yet.

During the initial discussion, Campbell described the tone of the film as fun but with a lot of adventure and a decent amount of humor, specifically between Reynolds and Lively, who play love interests but also rivals. Deline then discussed how the film will show the planet Oa and all the different Green Lanterns in the universe (all CGI), including Kilowog, Salaak, Boodikka and Bzzd. He used also used the term "space opera" in describing the film. Later on, Reynolds confirmed that Parallax would be in the film as the "physical manifestation of fear." He wasn't sure if he was supposed to say that, but Johns gave him the thumbs up.

All the actors had positive experiences about the film to share. Peter Sarsgaard said he had the most fun filming that he'd had in awhile. Reynolds and Strong mentioned that instead of all the flying being CG, much of it was done on really advanced flight rigs which was (needless to say) a lot of fun. 

Of course, the panel got a couple questions about the future of the DC universe and plans for a possible Justice League film. Johns said he could not talk about upcoming projects but admitted "the success of "Lantern" will dictate everything DC does from here on out." So, much like how it was when the success of Iron Man spurred the eventual Comic Con announcement for Marvel two years back to do Thor, Captain America and The Avengers films, this time next year would probably be the time when DC makes a splash if The Green Lantern lives up to the hype, despite the clamor among fans and rumors of The Flash, Wonder Woman and Justice League announcements.

Other panel highlights included Reynolds reciting the Green Lantern oath for a little kid and then signing a book for him. One lucky audience member got the actual ring that Reynolds was wearing on stage.