UPDATED: Ryan Reynolds is GREEN LANTERN!

By Matt Holmes / June 25, 2011

UPDATED: Variety and The Hollywood Reporter both say Marvel actor Ryan Reynolds has been cast as Green Lantern. THR claims it's the first time an actor has played a superhero in a Marvel and DC Movie, which sounds right in my head but we shouldn't forget that James Marsden was Cyclops in Marvel's X-Men and Richard White in DC's Superman Returns (not as asuperhero character, granted). What does that mean for Deadpool, I really can't say but I would predict that Marvel will sacrifice that movie now, which is definitely a bonus I would say. Reynolds - well I liked him in Smokin' Aces but apart from his good lucks, I've never been convinced that he is a Hollywood star. Got all the attributes, but for whatever reason it hasn't worked for him yet. Make or break this movie for him? You betcha... if he wants to be the next Christian Bale, then this is the time to show it. Guess I was wrong about Bradley Cooper, but I did hear from reliable people that the job was all set to be his for a while. I wonder what happened? Was it the lightning fast buzz that he won from The Hangover that Warner Bros. clung on to when they flirted with him for a while and then when that comedy left theatres, they started to have doubts? Who knows? Production begins on Green Lantern in January for a June 2011 release. Ryan Reynolds, Bradley Cooper or Justin Timberlake will be the Green Lantern according to The Hollywood Reporter, after Warner Bros. casting search that has taken all of 2009 has boiled down to just three names, all of whom are said to have put on the suit and screen tested several times. My editorial decision to photograph Cooper of the three actors, is because I'm convinced and have been for about a month now that the part is his... Previously we had heard that Cooper was Warner Bros. favourite, the news leaking just after the $272 million worldwide grossing WB hit The Hangover made him a valuable commodity at the studio. The Timberlake choice is a strange one but they must think he is capable if he has gotten so far in the process but as far as I'm concerned he's a lightweight, and a lightweight shouldn't take a heavyweight part. Ryan Reynolds has been long linked with this part, even as far back as his pre-Deadpool days for Marvel, and with a sequel coming up on that front, you find it difficult to believe Warner Bros. would want him to play Green Lantern. And besides, Reynolds is a Wally West fan, he has long lobbied to play The Flash... he's better suited to that role. Cooper has all the assets required to play Hal Jordan, and the idea of him teaming with Reynolds in the future for a Brave & The Bold movie, well, I like it. I like it a lot. Producer Donald DeLine, director Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, The Mask of Zorro) and Warner Bros. were said to have all had a different particular favourite, and as of yet they haven't been able to compromise on one choice. Other guys that screen tested were Jared Leto, Michael Fassbender and poor Henry Cavill, but they were eliminated X-Factor style in the early rounds. I call Cavill poor because the unlucky guy has screen tested for Superman, Batman and James Bond and has always come away short, and it looks like his latest bid to play an icon has failed too. Decision on who's playing Lantern could officially come as early as Monday as Warner Bros. crank up production on their next big superhero tentpole, which is now set for June 2011.