Fans hoping to be convinced that Green Lantern’s costume looks better in action came away disappointed from the film’s Comic Con panel. Only a quick cut, hard to follow 90 second package was shown – and only shown once. And while Hal Jordan was seen using his ring’s power – briefly – we never got any glimpse of him in his costume.
So what was shown? I’m not really sure. Lots of fast flashes of images – a helicopter taking off, a building, Blake Lively standing around. And the action we wanted was just as fast. Hal Jordan, seemingly newly ringed, gets beat up by a group of punks, finally unleashing a big green fist on all of them. It’s a cool moment, and we get a quick glimpse of how the Green Lantern construct effect works – the fist is big, a little cartoony and seems to be giving off shimmery energy trails. And then there’s a quick, Yes album cover looking shot of the planet Oa. But that was it. Most interesting was a really quick look at beaked Green Lantern Tomar Re, who looked very CGI but otherwise quite good.
From the footage it seems impossible to draw a conclusion or even much of an impression. The stuff we saw was all night shots, which makes the movie look dark and gritty, but it could be that the three weeks remaining on the shoot are all the day work, and there will be plenty of bright sunny scenes. And the blindingly quick cuts probably have no bearing on what the film’s editing or pace will be like.
During the panel there was some information shared. It had been rumored that Parallax would be the villain, and Ryan Reynolds admitted as much, before checking to see if he was supposed to say that. Parallax, for those unfamiliar with the comics, is the physical embodiment of fear. He’s a yellow monster, and he’s the retconned explanation for why Green Lantern’s ring is powerless against the most chickeny color.
Geoff Johns, DC’s big guy these day, was fielding a lot of the bigger questions about the film. We’ll see all 3600 Green Lanterns at some point, but it’s likely that they’ll be shown in a big crowd scene of some sort. They named a couple of Lanterns who would appear, but my guess is that they’ll be basically Easter Eggs. The Lanterns who will be major will be Sinestro, who is not evil by the end, Kilowogg, who is Hal’s drill instructor, and Tomar Re.
At one point Ryan Reynolds revealed that he was wearing his Green Lantern ring, and at the request of a six year old kid he recited the Lantern oath. It was a great moment, and you could feel the electricity in Hall H. I wish that the footage had delivered the same charge. I’m withholding any judgment until I can actually see something.