Green Lantern has, and continues to remain, my number one comic book hero. Considering his source and what the comics really are, the prospect of a film adaptation worried me to no end. Then all of a sudden Martin Campbell was elected to direct the picture and hope was born in the project. That nugget of goodness was followed with the casting of Ryan Reynolds in the lead role. It’s as if Campbell knew he needed a villain just as charismatic as Reynolds and sought out the only man he knew could go toe-to-toe with him: Mark Strong. The man is gold in anything he does, and I have no doubt he’ll capture everything that Sinestro is. His recent quotes with USA Today also should give any Lantern fan hope:
“For anybody who’s familiar with the Green Lantern and the origin story, the film closely follows the early comics. Sinestro starts out as Hal Jordan’s mentor, slightly suspicious and not sure of him because obviously Hal is the first human being who’s made into a Green Lantern. He’s certainly very strict and certainly unsure of the wisdom of Hal becoming a Green Lantern.”
Strong also added this, via MTV Movies Blog:
“He is a military guy but isn’t immediately bad. It’s the kind of person he is that lends himself to becoming bad over the course of the comics being written, but initially he’s quite a heroic figure.”
Well between this and Kick-Ass, it looks like Strong may be in the two best comic book adaptations of all-time. Then again, that’s pre-hype talking.
Are you excited for a Strong Sinestro?