Before he was cast as Bucky Barnes in Captain America: The First Avenger, Sebastian Stan tried to become the first big-screen iteration of Hal Jordan.
During an extensive interview with Josh Horowitz for the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Stan revealed that he auditioned for the role of Hal Jordan in Warner Bros. and DC’s Green Lantern movie, which ultimately went to Ryan Reynolds. The movie, which opened in theaters in 2011, was a critical and commercial flop, receiving negative reviews and grossing only $220 million worldwide.
“Green Lantern was another one I screen-tested for. I remember getting there and it was, like, me, Justin Timberlake, Jared Leto, Ryan Reynolds, and maybe one other person,” he recalled on the Happy Sad Confused podcast (via ComicBookMovie.com). “I’m looking at these guys going, ‘I’m f***ed. There’s no way this is happening for me.’ You come close and it wouldn’t happen, but in a way, looking back I’m almost glad it didn’t.”
Watch the complete interview between Horowitz and Stan below:
After losing out on Green Lantern, Stan was cast as Captain America’s sidekick, Bucky Barnes, in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger, the fifth movie released in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The actor has since reprised the role of Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier an additional eight times, appearing in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Ant-Man (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Black Panther (2018), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021), and What If…? (2021-23). His tenth appearance as the character will be in the upcoming crossover movie, Thunderbolts, set for release in 2025.
Green Lantern is finally getting another live-action adaptation
As for Green Lantern, the failure of the 2011 movie cast the superhero in a negative light, leading to the Green Lantern Corps playing no major role in the DC Extended Universe. However, this is set to change with James Gunn’s DC Universe, with three members of the Green Lanterns already cast. Nathan Fillion will portray Guy Gardner in the 2025 movie Superman, while Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre will play Hal Jordan and John Stewart, respectively, in the upcoming HBO limited series Lanterns, which is scheduled to begin production in January 2025.
Thunderbolts* hits theaters on May 2, 2025, as part of Phase 5 of the MCU.
