DC comics have been doing a fairly good job of rejuvenating their pantheon of mythic superheroes since the 2005 soft-reboot-event Infinite Crisis, but there were a few missteps along the way. Allan “Grey’s Anatomy” Heinberg’s complete and utter fucking up of Wonder Woman, Shazam, and all of Final Crisis itself for example. But DC got everything right with Green Lantern. And by they, I mean Geoff Johns. If it wasn’t for Green Lantern: Rebirth (Yes, I am aware that it was published a year before Infinite Crisis. Don’t crap a Pokemon card.) and Sinestro Corps War, nobody but the diehard fans would give a shit about the Green Lantern property today. But now, if you look around the show floor of Wonder Con 2011, people are damn near carving the Lantern symbol into their foreheads, and all because of the sheer talent of Geoff Johns. The Green Lantern house of cards almost came crashing down due to the massive ball droppings by DC comic’s parent company Warner Bros. in previous years, but if Wonder Con is any indication, then things have never looked better for GL. And just in the nick of time too.

EW’s First Look

First in July 2010, the very first image of the Green Lantern was released on the cover of Entertainment Weekly to mixed reactions. Some people liked it, …and quite of a few did not. Frankly I thought the costume looked like it was made of sewn together flaps of beef jerky sprayed painted green. Also, that mask he was sporting looked like somebody’s bored stay-at-home mother did it in Photoshop after watching a tutorial on youtube.

San Diego Comic Con 2010

At the 2010 San Diego Comic Con the Green Lantern panel was, by all accounts, a disaster. Everyone was anticipating some decent footage, mostly because Comic Con attendees have been spoiled by Hollywood by being allowed to see amazing sizzle reels in the past. What we got were shots of Ryan Reynolds looking like he sat in a tanning bed for too damn long. Fortunately the panel was saved by an adorable little kid wearing a GL shirt who asked Reynolds what it felt like to say the oath. There were “Awwws” all around but no new information or anything to draw attention to the project. Green Lantern got lost in the shuffle.

Teaser Trailer

Finally a trailer was shown at he beginning of Harry Potter and The Never Ending Camping Trip (It had some Hermione side boob in that, check it out, then check IT out.). I heard from a reliable source that the effects in trailer were rushed to make the Potter deadline, and it showed. The trailer made the movie looked like a cheap knock off of Iron Man and the costume really looked like living meat now. There is actually a scene in the movie where Hal Jordan changes instantly into the costume and he had this weird CG abs that looked like the Budweiser frogs were breathing underneath it. I couldn’t get it out of my brain; it was horrifying. By this point pretty much everyone had lost hope, especially me. I mean just look at it. 

Wonder Con 2011 Footage

So far we’ve seen some pretty good trailers for Captain America and Thor. But the GL advertisement campaign has been for the most part strangely silent. And as the June release date looms closer, it looked as though Marvel Studios would dominate the spandex superhero genre once again. After seeing the eight minutes of footage released at Wonder Con I have no problem admitting I was wrong. From just those few minutes you got the taste of the scope, and it tasted huge. (I could have gone for a blowjob joke here. I’m showing restraint! This is growth!) Seriously though this could be the new Star Wars for a new generation, succeeding in what the actual new Star Wars tried to do. The suit no longer looks like flaps of beef jerky. It actually looks like a suit made of pure energy. Between the etched in lines that mimic the muscle structure glows little bright lights of emerald. It looked primal and beautiful. You don’t really have to take my word for it; Warner’s released a truncated version of the footage, which you can see at the bottom of the page. It even has scenes not seen at Wonder Con. What we got to experience were more extended scene that add actual character to Hal Jordan. There is a great scene of Hal Jordan getting to Oa and then goofing off before being interrupted by Tomar-Re. The moment that actually made me believe they got it right was the moment Hal Jordan speaks the Lantern Oath for the first time. It starts comically with Jordan spouting off a made up oath of his own devising but soon turns serious as the Lantern takes over, his eyes glow green and as if possessed he speaks the sacred oath. The Wonder Con footage didn’t blow my mind, it changed it. The mask still looks dodgy, but I can’t have everything.