Sam Worthington Lost Out on ‘Green Lantern’ Role After Questioning Logic of Film: ‘It Didn’t Make Much Sense’
Sam Worthington almost went from “Avatar” to DC superhero…that is, if the script had made sense to him.
The “Avatar: The Way of Water” actor revealed that he was almost cast in 2011 DC film “Green Lantern” as Hal Jordan — except he couldn’t wrap his head around the plot.
“It didn’t make much sense to me — the suit comes out of his skin?” Worthington told Variety. “And I was like, ‘He’s got this powerful ring that can create anything. Well, what can beat the ring?’ The answer was, ‘Nothing.’ I was like, ‘Well, something needs to beat it, or it won’t be very interesting.'”
Ryan Reynolds eventually took over the lead role and the film was an infamous flop, earning $116.6 million at the U.S. box office. Worthington went on to star in “Man on a Ledge” and “Wrath of the Titans.”
Reynolds watched “Green Lantern” for the first time a decade after its release and live-tweeted in 2021. “I only ever read my parts of the script so this is genuinely exciting for me to watch,” Reynolds wrote.
“Hellboy” star David Harbour admitted he called Reynolds to get advice on how to shoulder a possible flop.
“I know him a little bit. I called him and I was like, ‘Hey man, I just need to know something. You know ‘Green Lantern?’ Huge flop for you. What the fuck is that like, because I think I’m going to hit that right now,’” Harbour recalled asking Reynolds the day “Hellboy” was released in theaters. “‘Am I going to be OK? Am I going to survive this?’”
Harbour added that Reynolds was “sweet” about answering his questions.
New creative head of DC Studios James Gunn recently responded to a fan question on Twitter that Reynolds returning as the Green Lantern is highly unlikely. “That’s not a priority for me and even much less of one for @VancityReynolds,” Gunn tweeted.
However, he added that “Green Lantern” content is very “important” for DC as a whole.
HBO Max was set to launch a “Green Lantern” TV series; creative overhauls in October 2021 led to a showrunner exit and an overall refocusing of the show, which had already cast Finn Wittrock as Guy Gardner and Jeremy Irvine as Alan Scott, two Green Lanterns.