Stuart, my co-host over at the Midnight Movie Cowboys, is doubling-down on his defense of Martin Campbell’s boring Green Lantern, but he brought up a straw man towards the end which was interesting: the comedy take on Green Lantern starring Jack Black that never happened.  Robert Smigel, who is probably best known as Triumph the Insult Comic Dog on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, penned a script, the first draft of which is available online.  Obviously the movie never happened because of fan outrage, and the studio opted for something more serious.  In late June, Smigel sat down with Vanity Fair after the release of the movie we ended up getting to discuss the Green Lantern film that never was, and the interview was an interesting look into what could have been. 

In the article, the interviewer indirectly makes a point that I think speaks true about the film that’s out now: if the Green Lantern movie we got with Ryan Reynolds was any good, no one would be talking about the one that never came to pass.  Trying to imagine a Green Lantern film with Jack Black seems ridiculous at first, but we did get a Green Hornet movie starring Seth Rogen this year (which I really enjoyed), so I guess anything’s possible when it comes to playing with popular brands.