Green Lantern director Martin Campbell has reflected on the movie.
When asked by Screen Rant if there's a 'Campbell Cut' of the film, the director replied with a definitive "no." He continued: "We'll put it this way: I did have my cut. The point was, right at the beginning of the movie, there was a whole sequence where he's an 11 year old kid. It's how his father dies in the air crash, which was a really good sequence. But [the production head] at the time decided that he wanted the death of the father intercut with Hal plunging in the plane, and he saw these flashbacks come to him. That was something that I didn't like very much."
Campbell added: "But you know what? The film did not work, really. That's the point, and I'm partly responsible for that. I shouldn't have done it. Because with something like Bond – I love Bond, and I watched every Bond film before I ever directed it. Superhero movies are not my cup of tea, and for that reason, I shouldn't have done it. But directors always have to carry the can for the failures. What do they say? Success has many fathers, failure has one. And that's me."
Green Lantern wasn't received well at the time of release, underperforming at the box office and netting negative reviews. Ryan Reynolds, who starred as the titular hero, has since become synonymous with another superhero: Deadpool. In both movies released so far, Reynolds has made fun of his past as the DC character. Campbell, meanwhile, directed both GoldenEye and Casino Royale before tackling Green Lantern.
Warner Bros. are reviving Green Lantern in live-action with the upcoming HBO Max series, which stars Finn Wittrock as Guy Gardner, and will also feature Alan Scott and Bree Jarta. A John Stewart appearance in Zack Snyder's Justice League was nixed, but Snyder since revealed what Wayne T. Carr's Lantern would have looked like in the movie.
There's no release date for the new HBO Max series just yet, but in the meantime, check out how to watch DC movies in order to get up to speed on the DCEU.
