August 15, 2008
The Inland Empire has Struck Back with a look at the storyline for the upcoming Green Lantern movie today.
Robert (he being big boss man at IESB) says the script is shit-hot - heck, it even features cameos from some other DC heroes like Superman!
But more so, writers Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Michael Green have gotten the character of the title character right.
‘'Also, unlike other recent superhero movies, this Green Lantern story has science fiction elements such as visiting other planets and major space battles'', writes Robert, adding that the film has the potential to be "bigger" than both "
The Dark Knight" and "
Iron Man".
It starts off with the revelation of Oa and The Central Battery with a voice over narration explaining that 1) there are extraterrestrials that protect the universe, 2) they have power rings, 3) there are thousands of Green Lanterns and 4) one of us has become one of them.
We go from one part of the universe to another and find ourselves in a familiar Solar System…our own.
Before I share some of the details let's do a quick character list of those we will see in the movie if this script gets the "green" light.
- Martin Jordan
Hal Jordan/Green Lantern
Thomas Kalmuka
Carl Ferris
Carol Ferris
Kilowog
Tomar-Re
Abin Sur
Thaal Sinestro
The Guardians
Legion
Hector Hammond
A few cameos include a certain mild mannered reporter from the Daily Planet, a certain college football coach with the last name of Gardner (who we are promised in the script we will see more of in the second film) and loads of other characters sure to keep fanboys orgasmic throughout.
Back to the script - The story follows the traditional Hal Jordan/Green Lantern story lines to a certain degree including the battle between Legion and Abin Sur, Abin Sur's crash landing on Earth, as well as the choosing of Hal Jordan over Guy Gardner and Clark Kent.
Parts are straight out of the Emerald Dawn series including Jordan's simulator being ripped out of the training center and flown to a dying Abin Sur and Hal Jordan going to Oa to help defeat Legion.
The major difference is in the Sinestro character arch. I don't want to give too much away but the writers were very careful to stay true to the character without blowing their load on the first film.
The other difference is also introducing Hector Hammond into the story line and making him the big threat to Earth or Gaia if you prefer.
From the first major beat of the story - that is sure to bring a tear - to the revelations at the end of the movie that easily set up prequels as well as sequels this script has it all. Also, unlike other recent superhero movies, this Green Lantern story has science fiction elements such as visiting other planets and major space battles.
It's a quick read and is a mere 109 pages but is action packed from the beginning to end. The script, if greenlit, is a sure-fire hit for fan boys, but in scale it's big, VERY big.