Early reports on the Green Lantern script had Hector Hammond as the villain, and the casting news of Peter Sarsgaard this week confirms it. But what about classic Lantern baddie Sinestro (you know, the guy doomed to evil by his parents. What a fucking name!)? The rumor had been that Sinestro is in Green Lantern but he hasn’t yet turned evil and acquired his yellow power ring. HitFix’s Drew McWeeny has done some digging and confirmed that Sinestro is in the film and that Jackie Earle Haley is the only person the production wants in the role.
That’s great news for Jackie Earle Haley, who has seen his acting comeback blow up into a series of high profile and now franchise roles. Sinestro’s a two-picture deal at least, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he made it all the way through the first three films (should Green Lantern make it to three films, but that’s a discussion for another day). I do sort of wish that Jackie was getting more serious roles – he was so good in Little Children, and while it’s fun to have him in these big, sort of silly movies it would be great to see him go full into a meaty, real role.
Green Lantern starts shooting soon, so expect official word on this in the near future.