Is Green Hornet in trouble? Seth Rogen says no, some people in Hollywood say yes. But that’s all back room stuff, and we’ll find out the fate of the film when it starts shooting… or doesn’t. In the meantime, the LA Times’ Hero Complex blog says that Adam Sandler will have a small role in the movie as a masked hero. The column doesn’t give an answer as to who it might be, but the most obvious possibility is The Lone Ranger.
Yes, The Lone Ranger. See, the Green Hornet is actually The Lone Ranger’s grand nephew. It was revealed on the radio shows, and The Green Hornet has a painting of The Lone Ranger in his home. The only problem is that a company called Classic Media owns the rights to The Lone Ranger, and they have an active deal with Disney to make a Ranger movie starring Johnny Depp as Tonto. Classic Media did have the film set up at Columbia at one point, so maybe there’s a friendly relationship and they’re willing to let Rogen et al use the character.
Or maybe The Lone Ranger will appear but in such a way that we get who he is but he’s never mentioned by name. All you need is a silver bullet and the William Tell Overture to clue audiences in on Sandler being The Lone Ranger without naming him The Lone Ranger.
Or maybe it’s Batman. The Green Hornet and Kato crossed over in the Batman TV show in the 60s, after all. That seems to be among the single least likely things I have ever heard, though – I’m trying to imagine a scenario where Warner Bros, coming off The Dark Knight, agrees to allow Adam Sandler to play that character in a movie for another studio.