“Get the f**k out of here”: Ryan Reynolds’ Response after James Gunn Asked Him to Return as Green Lantern

Ryan Reynolds is regarded as one of the most talented actors in the industry, whose biggest success came with portraying the titular character in 2016’s Deadpool. The actor who has been heavily involved in bringing visibility and attention to the character was highly appreciated for his performance and went on to earn a Golden Globe nomination for the same. He reprised his character for 2018’s Deadpool 2 and 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine, in which he starred alongside Hugh Jackman.

Reynolds had previously starred as Green Lantern in the 2011 movie of the same name. Directed by Martin Campbell, the movie that tells the story of Hal Jordan becoming the first human member of the intergalactic police force was heavily criticized upon release. Critics and audiences slammed the movie and the makers for being unfaithful to the source material. The actor was asked to reprise his character, and James Gunn shared his response to that question.

James Gunn reveals Ryan Reynolds’ reply when asked to return as Green Lantern

DC Studios boss James Gunn is now gearing up for the release of his hotly anticipated DC Universe’s first movie, Superman, starring David Corenswet. The filmmaker is very excited for the audience to watch the movie and has not held himself back from praising his lead actor.

James Gunn recently appeared on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, where he shared that he still remembers taking over the position at DC Studios like it was yesterday. He also mentioned that at the time he had reached out to one of the actors from the Marvel Universe to return to DC, and his response was what Gunn had wanted to hear but understood when it did. Yep, it was Ryan Reynolds.

The filmmaker revealed during the conversation that he had briefly spoken to Ryan Reynolds after he took over DC Studios, and they spoke about his Green Lantern movie. Gunn said he jokingly asked him, ‘You coming back?’ To which Reynolds replied to him by saying,

Get the f**k out of here.

Ryan Reynolds’ Green Lantern was said to kick off the DCEU, but the critical and commercial failure of the movie not only got its sequel scrapped but also made the studios opt to use Man of Steel to kickstart the DCEU. The actor himself went on to say that the movie was a disaster, but it was revealed in 2021 that it was his way to cope with the failure of the movie.

In speaking at the Just For Laughs comedy festival in 2021, Reynolds said (via The Independent)

There were just too many people spending too much money, and when there was a problem, rather than saying, ‘Ok, let’s stop spending on special effects and let’s think about the character,’ That just never… the thinking was never there to do that.

Reynolds noted that it’s a very old-school way of looking at things, adding that it didn’t work for them. He revealed that everyone who worked on the movie enjoyed their time and had fun. But he added that watching the movie was an odd feeling, so he spent the following years owning as much as he could to process the response to the movie.

Shawn Levy on Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman starrer Deadpool & Wolverine’s success

Deadpool & Wolverine is without a doubt one of the biggest movies that came out in 2024 and became the second highest-grossing feature. The movie became a significant one as it saw Hugh Jackman returning to his fan-favorite character of Wolverine after seven long years. The makers and the actors had expected the movie to do a good job at the box office but did not anticipate it to become the second-highest-grossing movie of 2024.

In speaking to The Wrap, Jackman shared that Reynolds had a mantra that he heard him say to the director, Shawn Levy, and him and the crew. He added that it was, ‘If the expectation is here, we have to deliver above,’ and explained that the actor was very clear that the expectations from the movie were high, so they had to perform their best to deliver.

Shawn Levy added,

I certainly felt like I had the privilege of telling the first story about these iconic characters thrust together. What could be beyond funny, beyond action-packed? I thought there might be a chance for it to be poignant because ultimately, it’s about two really haunted guys filled with self-loathing who save each other.

Levy noted that they always aimed for the movie to have a connection with the audience, but the response it had received was something that they did not anticipate. He added that it was thrilling but clarified that it was never a part of the plan. The director mentioned that for him and Reynolds, it was an immense joy to be able to write for Jackman’s Logan, who was returning after saying goodbye to his character.

Shawn Levy concluded that they knew they had something unique, and it’s the soul of Logan in this story, and Hugh Jackman’s performance as the character is what makes it impactful.

Deadpool & Wolverine is streaming on Disney+.