In the universe where caped crusaders and masked vigilantes reign supreme, the hopes of most comic fans were at their peak when Ryan Reynold came on the big screen as Green Lantern back in 2011. The movie promised the audience to bring one of the most thrilling and adventurous superheroes to the silver screen. Not only this, the movie was also supposed to have a triumphant cameo of Superman, the Man of Steel himself. However, this cameo was completely slated out of the movie due to different reasons.
Ryan Reynold’s $200 million film axed out a Superman cameo
Ryan Reynold’s $220 million movie, Green Lantern, which was once supposed to have the cameo of the Man of Steel, went through a plethora of disappointments. Even though the film was made with a huge budget of $220 million, the directors and producers found it too costly to feature Superman.
Talking about the same, the writer of the movie, Marc Guggenheim said,
“Without trying very hard, you could probably find the leaked script on the internet. [The Superman cameo] is in the leaked script. It survived several drafts. Ultimately, it was cut for budgetary reasons. We took it out in one of our later drafts…The Clark Kent cameo is still near and dear to my heart. I wanted it to be in the movie,” he added, only to joke, “You never know – it can still happen. If Tom Welling has a free hour or two, you never know.”
Apart from the monetary reasons, it was also stated that the directors axed out this cameo as they did not want to depend on some other superhero for the success of the movie. At that time Ryan Reynold was not at his peak, he was a struggling actor ad the cameo from Superman would mean that the director was taking the support of some other superhero for the success of the movie.
Nathan Fillion to replace Ryan Reynold as Green Lantern in Superman: Legacy
The 2011 movie Green Lantern starring Ryan Reynold was a major flop. Even after spending $220 million, the movie was not able to amaze the people in the theaters. The movie was only able to make a revenue of $165 million which was a flop considering the movie’s high budget. The failure of this movie created huge troubles for Ryan Reynold and his career and ever since then the actor has been very vocal about his dislike of the movie.
After all this, DC Films have decided to replace Reynolds with Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern in the DC Studios’ upcoming movie Superman: Legacy. Fillion is quite familiar with the role of Green Lantern, as he has voiced the role of this superhero in at least 10 different animated films between 2011 and 2020. Although, Legacy will be the first time Fillion will be on the screen playing the role.
True. Welcome to the cast of Superman: Legacy: @NathanFillion as Green Lantern Guy Gardner, @isabelamerced as Hawkgirl, and @iamedigathegi as Mister Terrific. ❤️💙💛 https://t.co/Z9JLq3jUxL
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) July 11, 2023
In this comic twist, even though the cameo of the Man of Steel was clipped out from the Green Lantern movie back in 2011, the new replacement of Nathan Fillion is about to take up rings in Superman: Legacy as the new Green Lantern bringing in a new addition into the DC Universe.
Source: GIZMODO
Frequently asked questions
Which superhero cameo was written into the 2011 Green Lantern film?
Early drafts of Green Lantern included a Clark Kent cameo, placing Superman’s alter ego in the same story as Ryan Reynolds’s Hal Jordan.
Why was the Superman cameo removed from Green Lantern?
Writer Marc Guggenheim said the scene was cut in a later draft for budgetary reasons, and the team preferred not to lean on another hero to carry the film.
How did Green Lantern perform relative to its large budget?
Green Lantern carried a production budget in the region of two hundred million dollars and underperformed at the box office, ending Warner Bros plans for a sequel.
