For those concerned that the “Green Lantern” TV series would end up like all the other various iterations of the live-action superhero franchise that has tried to happen since the 2011 film with Ryan Reynolds bombed (that is to say, dead), don’t worry! We actually have our first cast member for the series, pointing to the fact that the show should actually be put into production fairly soon.
According to THR, actor Finn Wittrock has become the first cast member to join the upcoming “Green Lantern” HBO Max series. The series is expected to follow the story of the Green Lantern Corps., a group of interplanetary space cops that use the power of a glowing green lantern to allow them to have superpowers. In the show, Wittrock is expected to play fan-favorite Lantern, Guy Gardner, described as “a hulking mass of masculinity, and, as rendered in the comics, an embodiment of 1980s hyper-patriotism. And yet, Guy is somehow likable.” One interesting aspect of the show is that it’s going to trace the history of the human Lanterns dating back to Alan Scott to Guy Gardner and beyond. (The Lanterns exist all over the universe, consisting of a multitude of different alien races.)
Wittrock is probably best known for his various collaborations with Ryan Murphy, including seasons of “American Horror Story,” “American Crime Story,” and the recent Netflix series, “Ratched.” On the film side, he can be seen in “Unbroken,” “Judy,” and the upcoming thriller, “Deep Water.”
“Green Lantern” is produced by Greg Berlanti, who co-wrote the series with Seth Grahame-Smith and Marc Guggenheim. An official release date has yet to be announced.
Here’s the synopsis for the DC superhero show:
Green Lantern reinvents the classic DC property through a story spanning decades and galaxies, beginning on Earth in 1941 with the very first Green Lantern, secretly gay FBI agent Alan Scott, and 1984, with cocky alpha male Guy Gardner and half-alien Bree Jarta. They’ll be joined by a multitude of other Lanterns — from comic book favorites to never-before-seen heroes.
