WB Fitting Ryan Gosling for The Green Lantern’s Ring?

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on October 8, 2008

With a bevy of superhero movies currently in active pre-production — everything from Thor to Iron Man 2 to X-Men Origins: Magneto — there are bound to be plenty of casting announcements coming in the next few months. And while today doesn’t bring an official announcement, it does bring some interesting rumors from the hallways of Warner Bros. They are currently working in an adaptation of the classic DC Comic character the Green Lantern, with Eli Stone writer/producer Greg Berlanti at the helm. And according to a scoop received by Latino Review’s El Mayimbe, the production could be on the warpath to sign someone to wear the ring of Abin Sur. According to the report, WB is looking at Ryan Gosling for the role of Hal Jordan, also known as the Green Lantern.

Now, before you all get up in arms, lets think about this for a second. First, the question of the rumor — El Mayimbe’s info has been very solid in the past, including breaking a few big casting scoops from inside Warner Bros. in the past, including Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight. So from a reliability standpoint, this one has some solidity.

And then there is the question of reasonability/quality of casting — that is certainly something that could create a debate. According to reviews of the script that Greg Berlanti is working on, Hal Jordan is 27 in the film, about the same age that Gosling is in real life. But it’s not just about age, there is also the idea that the role should be filled by an actor with great range, rather than someone who just looks the part. This is something that could seperate someone like Gosling from other candidates like David Boreanaz. Don’t get me wrong, Boreanaz isn’t a bad actor, he just doesn’t quite have the same acting chops that Gosling has shown over the course of the past few years — chops that could come in handy, depending on what type of film they are looking to make. And based on recent comments by WB Chief Alan Horn, they want to continue to take DC Comics properties in the same direction as The Dark Knight.

Also, on a slightly related note, as I watch the behind the scenes featurettes for Marvel’s The Incredible Hulk, there have been multiple mentions of trying to find ‘the best actor possible’ for these types of parts. People like Edward Norton and Robert Downey Jr. who have dramatic backgrounds and aren’t necessarily the first actors you think of for big budget action movies. This is one of the major changes that has occurred in the past few years in superhero movies, and Ryan Gosling could very well to continue such a trend. But as always, we will keep tabs on this rumor and await some official word.

What do you think of Ryan Gosling possibly taking on the role of Hal Jordan/The Green Lantern?

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