With movie lovers trapped at home and in constant need of new entertainment, dropping 99 cents to watch Green Lantern on iTunes can start to seem like an enticing offer. Why not find out if the Ryan Reynolds superhero film is as bad as people (including Ryan Reynolds) say it is? It’s not like you have anything else to to do.
Fortunately, one brave Twitter user decided to ask Reynolds for advice before pulling the trigger on the cheap rental, and the actor didn’t mince words on what folks should do if they’re even thinking of watching Green Lantern: “Walk away.”
Walk away.
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) April 25, 2020
Of course, this news shouldn’t exactly come as a surprise to Deadpool fans. Reynolds spent time in the franchise mercilessly mocking his DC Comics role. In Deadpool 2, there’s even an end credits scene where Deadpool travels back in time and shoots Reynolds in the back of the head while he’s reading the Green Lantern script.
However, even Warner Bros. has been a good sport about mocking its failed attempt to launch a DC Cinematic Universe with Reynolds. Here’s a tweet that Warner Bros. sent to Reynolds ahead of Deadpool 2:
We tried to put a ring on it! #GreenLantern @VancityReynolds pic.twitter.com/W9e0KhgbnU
— Warner Bros. (@WBHomeEnt) May 18, 2018
And here’s the one WB sent after watching the film:
Sorry @VancityReynolds, we’re going to need the ring back. pic.twitter.com/dPyfsRPUYg
— Warner Bros. (@WBHomeEnt) May 19, 2018
As for what went wrong with the emerald space cop film, Reynolds spoke candidly about the filmmaking process in an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2016, when he explained why Deadpool succeeded where Green Lantern didn’t:
“Well it’s simple: Deadpool always knew what it was,” Reynolds tells EW. “With Green Lantern, I don’t think anyone ever figured out exactly what it was. That isn’t to say the hundreds of men and women didn’t work their fingers to the bone to make it as good as poosible. It also fell victim to the process in Hollywood which is like poster first, release date second, script last. At the time, it was a huge opportunity for me so I was excited to try and take part in it.”
On an interesting note, Reynolds also said that before agreeing to star in Green Lantern, he wrote Fox a letter giving them one last chance to snatch him up for a Deadpool movie, which the studio obviously passed on. It took Fox a few more years to finally give Reynolds a chance as the Merc with a Mouth, and the rest is history.
(Via Ryan Reynolds on Twitter)