There’s a lot of excitement to see the very first footage for the first Warner Bros. superhero movie done under the DC Entertainment banner, the production having been shooting in Louisiana since February with two more weeks to go.
The panel is going to start in five to ten minutes but we’re having technical difficulties in that the Wi-Fi in Hall H is spotty at best and has already dropped out once on us.
At this point, Hall H is completely full and they’re not letting anyone else in. We have no idea how many people were left outside but reportedly, there were people lining up last night who presumably slept on the lawn outside the San Diego Convention Center.
The mood in the hall seems fairly relaxed. Guess a lot of people were out partying last night, but I expect that to change as soon as the lights go down.
Come on… let’s start this thing already! (I’m sure that’s what most people are thinking right now.)
They’re ready to start!!! Here comes Eddie Ibrahim!
Not sure if this is something that many people will realize but apparently, there are hurricane warnings along the Gulf, which means the cast and crew of Green Lantern had to run in to do the panel and they have to get right back to Louisiana.
Moderator is Geoff Boucher of Hero Complex. He started things off by saying the Green Lantern oath, great way to kick things off and the first person out is “Green Lantern” writer and DC Entertainment CCO Geoff Johns!
They’re starting things off with some footage! (Will write up in a second but it went by very fast!)
It’s essentially a teaser which starts off with a glowing green ball and an alien voiceover that says:
“Welcome inhabitants of sector 2814. The Guardians have chosen you as candidates for enlistment but before you can be recruited, you must be tested. The light you see before you is controlled by your will. Focus on the light. If you will it, it will be. Now, focus.”
That ball of green light continues to pulse and get larger and larger before it blasts the screen with a wave of green light.
We then hear Reynolds’ voiceover saying the Green Lantern oath and a quick montage of footage cut together that went by very fast, including a close-up of Reynolds as Hal Jordan, his hand holding the ring, we see him in street clothes being pulled upwards and see a later scene in which he’s taking on criminals by using the ring to form a giant fist that throws a roundhouse punch knocking out a bunch of guys. We get a very brief glimpse of Hector Hammond and Tomar Re. (We presume that the voiceover was Abin Sur, but we’re not sure.)
After the oath is done, we hear the original alien voiceover saying, “The choice has been made.”
The light we saw earlier starts forming into the GL emblem and then we see the logo is “Await Further Contact Summer 2011.” (Hopefully, they’ll show it again so we can catch more since it went by very fast.)
They’re now bringing out the cast and crew including producer Donald DeLine, writer/producer Greg Berlanti, director Martin Campbell, Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Mark Strong and Peter Sarsgaard.
Ryan Reynolds says he was influenced by Han Solo and Chuck Yaeger for the part of Hal Jordan. The rest of the cast are talking about their characters and doing a superhero movie.
Director Martin Campbell is talking about the tone about keeping it very real and that the humor is apparent due to the presence of Ryan and Blake.
Producer Donald DeLine just listed a roster of Green Lanterns we’re likely to see in the movie, most of which we missed cause we were writing up the footage (will add in a bit) but he did mention that we get to see Killer Wasp. We’ll go back and add this when we have some time.
Geoff Johns is talking about the origins of the project and how ten years ago, he never thought a GL movie would happen cause someone at Warner Bros. asked, “Can we do it without the ring?”
Boucher is asking the cast some fairly generic questions about the characters they’re playing, nothing really urgent that we haven’t heard before from any actor who has been in a superhero movie. (Is that too cynical? Yeah, probably.)
Sarsgaard described Hammond as “the kid who licked the battery or went up the rooftop with a coat hanger” to see what happened.
A question from the audience asks how they picked the characters to use for the movie, and it focuses on Kilowog, Sinestro and Tomar Re. They mention that Green Man and Bzzt will both be seen briefly.
Geoff was asked about other DC projects and he said that he can’t talk about them. Same as always.
Ryan Reynolds was also talking about how he got the gig, and how they showed him the worlds and he was trying to play hard to get, but they really wanted him, though they made him work for the part by doing a couple screen tests before he got the role.
Martin Campbell is talking about Hal’s relationship with his father Martin as seen in the “Secret Origins” arc and how that’s going to play a large part in the movie, finally culminating at the end of the movie when Hal becomes a Green Lantern.
Geoff Johns was asked about a “Justice League” movie but he’s sidestepping it, saying that it will depend on the success of “Green Lantern.”
At the request of a little kid, Ryan Reynolds is saying the Green Lantern’s oath… the kid isn’t sure how to react. Reynolds is wearing one of those (presumably) plastic Green Lantern rings… unless that’s a real one from the movie?!?
A question from the audience asks if there’s room for Alan Scott, and Johns says, “There’s always room.” Ryan Reynolds says that Parallax is in the movie.
Asked about whether Mogo may appear, Johns says, “There’s a lot of Green Lanterns in the film.”
When asked which DC character they might make into a movie next, Johns says “Green Lantern 2.”
Ryan Reynolds and Mark Strong talked a bit about how their character fly in the movie, and then Martin Campbell is talking about Hal and Carol as test pilots and how that’s shown in the movie as the two of them test out some of Ferris Aviation’s latest jets. We definitely will see Carol in the skies flying the jets as well, rather than being only on the floor.
Ryan Reynolds says he’s been wearing the ring for six months and he plans on passing it onto someone else, similar to Abin Sur giving his ring to Hal Jordan. They told the audience that there’s a piece of paper under someone’s seat and they will be given the ring. And we have a winner!
Are they seriously not showing the footage again? Man, that’s kind of a rip-off! Nope, that seems to be the end of the panel. Wow.
Will try to fill in some of the blanks later!
