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Casting news on Martin Campbell’s The Green Lantern continues to crystallize. While we had heard a rumor awhile back that Jackie Earle Haley might be in talks to play Green Lantern’s arch-nemesis, Sinestro, it now looks as though that isn’t, nor was it ever, the case.

MTV recently caught up with Campbell while during a junket for his upcoming thriller, Edge of Darkness, and popped the question to Campbell about Sinestro. According to Campbell:


No, that’s completely wrong…In fact, we’re in negotiations with Mark Strong to play Sinestro…He’s not only a wonderful actor, but he looks like Sinestro. If you look up old pictures of Sinestro, he’s very like him. The Jackie Earle Haley thing, somebody told me about it this morning; I had never heard it before in my life.


Makes sense. Sinestro is an intellectual first and foremost, and his corruption comes about because he is so determined to protect his own people. He becomes obsessed with power, control, and punishment. In other words, he's the kind of villain Strong excels at playing -- men whose brains equal or exceed their physical capabilities.

Campbell also provided details about which other characters will be in the film:


Well, Kilowog (a loveable bulldoggy alien) will be in it…Tomar-Re (a loveable bird-like alien) is in it. Sinestro is in it. Abin Sur is in it. All the origin people. Carol [Ferris], of course, who will be played by Blake Lively. All the main characters are there, and it’s a complex story. The origin story of Green Lantern is complex, probably one of the most complex, which makes it a challenge to get it right.


Seems like a pretty ambitious cast of characters to fit into one film. Recent origin stories have been able convincingly execute the dynamics of an ensemble cast of comic boook characters, but never without making at least one or two of them rather one-note. We’ll see how Campbell handles the juggling act.

What is undeniable is that Strong’s career deservedly continues to flourish. The man is undoubtedly watchable, and he truly revels in the evil/sliminess of his characters. This film adds another potential franchise to Strong’s resume; he was in Sherlock Holmes this winter and will next be seen in Kick-Ass in March, with Pixar’s John Carter of Mars up next on his production schedule.

All things considered (and Blake Lively's youth aside), Lantern is shaping up to have one heck of a cast, particularly on its darker side.