Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Green Lantern vs who now?

I just received the official description of Green Lantern's plot (no, I don't have "sources"...yes, this was sent as a mass mailing to many other people). I haven't seen this information yet anywhere out there in the blog-o-verse (but I didn't try very hard). Is everyone aware that the official synopsis is
In a universe as vast as it is mysterious, a small but powerful force has existed for centuries. Protectors of peace and justice, they are called the Green Lantern Corps. A
brotherhood of warriors sworn to keep intergalactic order, each Green Lantern wears a ring that grants him superpowers. But when a new enemy called Parallax threatens to destroy the balance of power in the Universe, their fate and the fate of Earth lie in the hands of their newest recruit, the first human ever selected: Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds).

Hal is a gifted and cocky test pilot, but the Green Lanterns have little respect for
humans, who have never harnessed the infinite powers of the ring before. But Hal is
clearly the missing piece to the puzzle, and along with his determination and willpower, he has one thing no member of the Corps has ever had: humanity. With the encouragement of fellow pilot and childhood sweetheart Carol Ferris (Blake Lively), if Hal can quickly master his new powers and find the courage to overcome his fears, he may prove to be not only the key to defeating Parallax…he will become the greatest Green Lantern of all."
So, they're going to use Parallax in the first movie? In using the internets to research the origins of Parallax (remember, I'm a Marvel zombie, not a DC Dunderhead...I kid because I love), I discovered two things. First, parallax apparently started off as some kind of "impurity" or "thing." I don't get it, but apparently it was both the thing that gave the Green Lantern ring vulnerability AND later became the villain Parallax. Although I doubt anyone who has read to this point will consider the following a spoiler, be warned if somehow you've managed to blunder your way this far without knowing that (gasp) Hal Jordan was Parallax. I don't know who Hal Jordan's first villain was in the comic books, but I know it wasn't himself. I have no idea how they're going to incorporate this. Are they basically doing what Fantastic Four 2 did to Galactus (meaning castrating the character into lameness) or is there some way in which this can work? I'd love some input from DC lovers who know better than I do.

The second thing I found on the internets was this:
I'm going to say it: Ryan Reynolds has really lost a step.

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11 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

In the comics, Parallax was the physical embodiment of fear. It was captured by Guardians (the Green Lantern's bosses) several millenia in the past...blah, blah, blah...infected Hal Jordan...blah, blah, blah...made him evil for a while...blah, blah, blah...the good guys won and Hal was restored.

I'm sure the GL movie will not mirror the *very* long comic storyarc, but Parallax will be a pretty cool villain if they don't screw it up.

May 25, 2010  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Did you get the mass e-mail from Warner Bros?

I do know this: From the leaked first draft, the main villains were the earth bound Hector Hammond who has telepathic powers.

The second one was Legion, a big yellow space baddie alien thing. (Think of the evil cloud thing in 5th Element; Legion is more of a force of nature than an actual villain)

Legion WAS in the comics but was later written out of continuity. In many ways, the version of Legion that was in the 1st draft was a amalgamation of different characters from the comics: Legion, Man Hunters, and Parallax. Now it's kinda pointless to point out who's who in full detail, but I can say that this Legion was pretty much 90% Parallax, who is a current villain in the comics. Parallax is a like a giant alien parasite that feeds on fear, and can pull a 'Body Snatcher' on you and take control of your body.

So I figured that if this mass email description is real, then Legion from the 1st draft became Parallax.

May 25, 2010  
Blogger Ryan said...

Well, I can tell you that this is 100% totally legit (no question there). It's the "official one sheet," which is sent around to media outlets by press people working for the film. My curiosity is whether they're going to go with the amorphous blob of fear or whether they're going to go with a version of this Legion thing. Thanks Joe and whoever my anonymous friend is (also, niiiice reference to the Fifth Element planet blob).

May 25, 2010  
Blogger Tracie Mauk said...

With Sinestro and Hector Hammond already in the film, I would be very surprised if they made Parallax the main villain. Not that you couldn't make it work, though it would have to be Parallax the entity... and you'd think it would play better if you had Hal become corrupted by Parallax before actually having to face him/it. (which sounds more like sequel material)

May 25, 2010  
Blogger Ryan said...

Hey Tracie, from the sound of it, I would agree with you. But the way they phrased it in that original press release "the key to defeating Parallax," boy does it sound like Parallax IS the main villain and Sinestro is being set up for the next movie. In fact, the official description for him was "Jordan's powerful mentor." I'm guessing he's being held back for the next one. Hector Hammond is likely the subvillain who creates trouble on earth while Jordan fights Parallax in the sky? I really don't know. The whole description seemed odd to me.

May 25, 2010  
Blogger Chris said...

Welcome to the shitstorm that is adapting a property that has been retconned a gobdillion times. Parallax is evil Hal Jordan, NO WAIT! Parallax is a space parasite, NO WAIT! Parallax is the source of all fear (you know, the color yellow) in the universe!

Why can't they just keep it simple and iconic? Green Lantern v. Sinestro. Boom, done. Where's my green money?

May 26, 2010  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

So....

You received an email regarding highly sought after information that if any other entertainment news outlet received would have made BIG headlines, and it's supposedly legit?

Really?

No offense (nah, I take that back) but that's a load of crap. I'm a member of the Warner Bros Press site and receive all of their official press releases. This is not one of them.

Sorry, try again.

May 26, 2010  
Anonymous Bobby said...

Yeah right. That "official synopsis" looks like it was written by a 12 year old.

May 27, 2010  
Blogger Ryan said...

This isn't information I was asked to keep private, so if Bobby or the anonymous person who wishes me offense want me to forward the email I received, I'd be happy to do so.

I get it, I do. I'm a tiny ass blog with zero credibility, so I'm not even mad at these accusations. That said, what I think happened was that these marketing people send out a TON of this stuff and it's easy to ignore it. I think other sites did get it and just tossed it without looking at it. There was only one interesting line in the whole thing.

I'm serious, though, if you send me your email address either here or email me at film@thereader.com, I'd be happy to forward you what I received. I promise it's 100% legit, at least insofar as the marketing group was told by WB that it was.

May 27, 2010  
Anonymous Poni said...

Sounds a bit different than what I've heard, but studios change things all the time.

I'll take you up on that email forwarding offer. My address is included in the hyperlink.

May 28, 2010  
Anonymous Poni said...

Guess the hyperlink didn't post correctly, here's the address: pietro@comicbookmovie.com

Send it to me whenever you can and I'll verify it with my sources.

Thanks

May 28, 2010  

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