These days, Ryan Reynolds is known for being the Merc with the Mouth, Deadpool. But that isn’t the first superhero Reynolds has depicted on the big screen. That would be Green Lantern, the DC character who hasn’t been played by anyone else in a movie since.
Green Lantern had something of a troubled run in theaters as it wasn’t exactly a fan favorite, but sometimes films hold up better under a second viewing. If you’d like to give it a second chance (or catch it for the first time), you may be wondering if it’s on Netflix. Here’s when you can expect it to come to that platform.
‘Green Lantern’ was originally released in 2011
According to IMDB, Green Lantern hit theaters in 2011. It starred Reynolds in the titular role as Hal Jordan of the Green Lantern Corps. Martin Campbell of The Mask of Zorro and Goldeneye fame directed it, while it featured a stellar supporting cast. Blake Lively played Carol Ferris, Hal’s love interest. Angela Bassett played Amanda Waller. Peter Sarsgaard played the villainous Hector Hammond while Mark Strong portrayed Sinestro. Sinestro eventually becomes Jordan’s archenemy, but in this movie, he serves in a mentor role.
Unfortunately for everyone involved, they didn’t get the opportunity to explore this universe any further. The film was not well-received by audiences or critics. Rotten Tomatoes noted it has a 26% score among critics with a not-much-better score of 45% with audiences.
Reynolds later lampooned his appearance in the film in the Deadpool movies. So why didn’t it work? It’s hard to say – Reynolds is a charismatic lead and the character is popular with comics fans. This was several years before DC made its extended universe, so maybe it’s that it had little connective tissue to a larger cinematic franchise.
When will ‘Green Lantern’ hit Netflix?
Green Lantern wasn’t exactly beloved by mass audiences, but for hardcore Green Lantern fans, it’s the only cinematic adaptation of the character – at least at the moment. If you’re a DC superfan looking to consume as much DC content as you can, you may want to check it out. If that’s the case, you’re in luck if you’re a Netflix subscriber. It’s coming to the streaming service very soon.
According to What’s On Netflix, the movie hits the app on September 1. Anyone with access to the service will be able to stream the film whenever they’d like.
Of course, one would assume Reynolds, the star of the movie, has already seen it and therefore wouldn’t need to watch it on Netflix. But he may have taken a little longer to see it than you’d think.
Ryan Reynolds live-tweeted his first time watching the movie
For Reynolds, even if the film was a flop, the experience wasn’t all bad. It’s where he met his future wife, Blake Lively. Reynolds even tweeted in March 2021 that he’d never seen the film and planned to live-tweet his first viewing, according to E!.
Reynolds had plenty of jokes to make at the film’s expense and even trolled Lively at one point, tweeting at her that, “Hey @BlakeLively is in this movie!” But Reynolds also took a moment to appreciate the film after he was done watching it, noting:
“Maybe it’s the Aviation Gin talking, but #GreenLantern was nothing to fear! Hundreds of incredible crew and cast members did amazing work — and while it’s not perfect, it ain’t a tragedy. Next time I won’t wait a decade to watch.”
Few superhero films are perfect, but Reynolds’ Lantern might hold up a bit better without the expectations being so high. If you’re looking for a light, fun superhero action film to watch this September, you could do worse than checking out Green Lantern.
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