Posts Tagged ‘Geoff Johns’

We bid farewell to Robert Venditti and his time writing Green Lantern titles in grand fashion with a special hour-long interview with the man himself!  Robert discusses his entire run (2013-2018), with a special focus on “Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps.”

While that would normally be enough… wait, there’s more!  We also start with a review of Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #50 before engaging in a Robert Venditti retrospective after the interview!  This episode is a keeper, folks!

Be sure to email us your thoughts or chime in on our voice-mail at 708-LANTERN!

Download the episode HERE!

It’s annual time as Chad and Mark discuss Green Lanterns Annual #1 and Wonder Woman Annual #2!  You get Lost Lanterns, Star Sapphires, Dark Nights: Metal references… all that good stuff.  All that and we discuss the latest shake up at WB regarding the DC Cinematic Universe and it involves our old friend, Geoff Johns! Be sure to email us your thoughts or chime in on our voice-mail at 708-LANTERN!

Download the episode HERE!

Chad and Mark return to discuss Green Lanterns; Rebirth (both the one-shot and first issue of the ongoing)!  The boys also spend a healthy amount of time taking on the DC Rebirth special written by former GL scribe Geoff Johns! All that and the answer to your number one question: What’s New in the Life of Chad Bokelman?! Be sure to email us or call our voice-mail at 708-LANTERN with your thoughts!

Download the episode HERE!

 

What could be big enough to reunite Jim, Dan, Chad and Mark?  Well, DC Rebirth, of course!  The former and current hosts discuss their thoughts on what Rebirth means to Green Lantern and the DCU as a whole.  Throw in a healthy debate about Jessica Cruz’s role in the DC cinematic universe, and you have one great episode! Be sure to chime in on our voice-mail at 708-LANTERN to give us YOUR thoughts on Rebirth!

Download the episode HERE!

 

*record scratch*

 

Alright, that’s enough. No more.

 

Jessica Cruz WILL NOT be the Green Lantern of the ‘Justice League‘ film. Nor will she be the Green Lantern of the ‘Green Lantern Corps‘ film currently slated for release in 2020.

 

In October of 2014, someone at Newsarama thought it would be fun to speculate about WHICH Green Lantern would feature in the ‘Justice League’ and ‘Green Lantern’ movies of the DC cinematic universe. Their conclusion? That Jessica Cruz is the ideal choice, going so far as to say, “if Vegas were to give us some good odds on who will be the lead movie GL, [our] money wouldn’t be on [Hal, Guy, John, Kyle, or Simon]”.

 

Speculation is all well and good. Editorial pieces, of which I am a personal fan (so long as you present them as such), are fun and thought provoking. And it’s a theory that’s catching on…

 

Latina Entertainment

 

Movie Pilot

 

OmegaUnderground

 

Cinema Blend

 

And now it’s resurfaced yet again with the reveal on Weds March 23rd that Jessica Cruz would be trading in her Power Ring power ring for a REAL Green Lantern power ring in the forthcoming Rebirth initiative from DC Comics.

 

 

…and it’s WRONG.

 

Why? Well, since this all sprung directly from Newsarama, it’s only logical to go point for point with their point by point.

 

1.) She of course is a current Justice League member and again was created by Johns, at exactly the time DCE and Warner Bros. seemed to be assembling their master movie plan and starting production on Dawn of Justice.

 

It sounds like you’re taking the “there’s no such thing as coincidence, it’s all fate” philosophical approach to life a little TOO far. Geoff Johns IS the Chief Creative Officer at DC. Geoff created Jessica Cruz. Geoff is involved with the direction of DC characters OUTSIDE of just the comics. Geoff isn’t THE decision maker though. If he was, ‘Green Lantern‘ wouldn’t have turned out to be the steaming pile it ended up. Perhaps a DIFFERENT steaming pile, but definitely not what we ended up with. All sources put that folly squarely on the Warner Studio muckety mucks. And maybe they’ve learned to loosen their grip and hand it off to their directors vision more (aka Snyder’s more creatively controlled vision we’re currently getting). But as much power and influence as Geoff has rightfully EARNED, he’s not THAT influential.

 

2.) Did we mention Johns created her himself, again, just a short time after already creating another new young Green Lantern character that serves to add diversity to the GL Corps and the Justice Leagues – Simon Baz (he even set Baz up as her mentor just before leaving the Green Lantern comic). It would not be a stretch of the imagination to conclude Jessica was created to fill a specific role Simon does not (we’re getting there in a sec), since Johns could have easily slotted him into the comic book League if he chose.

 

See our response to point 1. Also yes, Johns DID create her and Simon, but you’re forgetting the fact that Johns ADORES the silver age incarnations of characters (IE: Barry and Hal). So he may have created Simon and Jessica, but he’s only spent so much time with them. Prior to that? He spent 5+ years DELIBERATELY building Hal (and the GLC) back into the DCU. So which trumps which?

 

Additionally, you’re assuming the current comics have the same influence on the feature films that they have on the direct to DVD animated features. The last time DC films took a page directly from the current comics, we got the 2011 ‘Green Lantern‘. Granted the material it was ROOTED in was amazing, but the interpretation was obviously off.

 

Then DC went with the “no more old story interpretations in our direct to DVD animated features, only new material”. Which was fine. But have you noticed that decision loosening its grip lately? (the forthcoming ‘Killing Joke’ anyone?) Bottom line? The big screen films draw from more time tested stories and versions of the DCU, not the recent stuff. And have you SEEN the numbers for the comics lately? Even the popular stories? Those numbers, even the best ones, aren’t big enough “proof” to convince a studio to invest their millions of dollars and man hours.

 

3.) Since we can safely assume the movie League line-up is Batman, Superman, The Flash, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Cyborg, we can conclude the movies are following at least the basic roadmap of the New 52 line-up Johns created.

 

Yes. The BASIC road map. Meaning A GL. But wait. Was GL in BVSDOJ? No? When’s he showing up? Not until probably Justice League 2? (or end of JL 1?) So then what does “Unite the Seven” mean? Let’s count it out. We’ve got: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Cyborg, Aquaman….hmmm, that’s six. And no GL for awhile. Who’s left? Ah yes, the only other person getting a solo movie who HASN’T been mentioned yet… SHAZAM!

 

 

And their last two points together (since they’re essentially making the same point)…

 

4.) Cyborg basically supplanted Martian Manhunter (as well as other potential characters with rich Justice League history like Green Arrow, Hawkman, and the Atom), no doubt in part to inject some youth and technical weaponry into the line-up, but to also provide some yes … diversity.

 

5.) Finally, that seven character League … pardon us for saying so … is/was a bit of a sausage fest.

 

And here we go. The only REAL reason they’re pushing for Jessica in the first place. She’s a female of Latin origin. Gender and race.

 

I won’t lie for the sake of my own argument. It’s completely true. The big two (and others) are definitely pushing for more equal representation in their characters across all media. Equal time given regardless of gender, race, religious background, or sexual orientation. The problem with assuming this will play a large enough role to shove aside the GL boys in favor of Jessica Cruz is that there is no historical precedent for it. Heimdall was interpreted as a black character. But Heimdall isn’t a main character in Thor. Nick Fury was interpreted as a black character. Nick Fury isn’t so popular he offsets the cast of the actual heroes in Avengers. And so on and so forth.

 

As for our main characters? Iron Man? Tony Stark. Cap? Steve Rodgers frozen in ice. Thor? From Asgard. Black Widow? Natasha. Hulk? Bruce Banner. Superman? Clark Kent. Batman? Bruce Wayne. Wonder Woman? Diana Prince. Flash? Barry Allen. Green Arrow? Oliver Queen. Daredevil? Blind Matt Murdock. Supergirl? Kara Danvers. Want me to keep going? Because I can move on to the supporting characters like Patsy Walker, Laurel Lance, Ronnie Raymond, Carter Hall, Ray Palmer, Frank Castle, Electra, Luke Cage, Rip Hunter, and more and more.

 

Heck, even Hulk (the Ang Lee version) didn’t mean Bruce Banner got tossed out with the bathwater because of the toxic reputation of the film. Or ignored all together. They kept the classic interpretation, gave it some breathing room, and kept on.

 

Bottom line? There’s NO EVIDENCE that film makers (in TV or film) believe that equal representation trumps the classic, time tested, and mostly RECOGNIZABLE/marketable versions of main (or supporting) characters.

 

Not to mention the fact that, while studios in charge of superhero films don’t SOLELY cater their interpretations to the comic fan base, making the GL Jessica Cruz would completely and utterly alienate most every current fan of the mythos. And the ones NOT up to date on who she is but had experiences with GL in the past? Would be utterly confused. So while they may not make these films solely for us, we’re a big enough part of the audience that they at least CONSIDER our reaction. And if we’re a big enough group to consider, we’re a big enough group to impact the bottom line in some, even small, way.

 

And that’s it.

 

I’ll agree, WHERE POSSIBLE and still PROFITABLE, DC/Warner is MOST LIKELY to bring diversity in the DC cinematic universe with the Green Lantern characters (think the JL/JLU animated series). But when someone like John Stewart is available, characters like Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz don’t really stand a chance, no matter who created them.

 

I won’t deny it’s possible we might see them in a film (most likely GLC in 2020) but they won’t be the main GL’s. Period. Characters recognizable to both comic fans, and more importantly, the general movie going audience have the highest potential for profitability in both ticket sales AND merchandising. Because despite the push for diversity, studios are still profit driven entities. Jessica Cruz still doesn’t even have an action figure. Or a supporting role in the main Green Lantern title or even the ancillary titles (that could obviously change after Rebirth, though doubtful with a rumored title like ‘Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps’ in the works).

 

It’s going to be Hal Jordan or John Stewart. Or both. But it’s not going to be Jessica Cruz.

 

So thank your lucky stars Vegas doesn’t accept those types of bets.

 

(PS: The news that Jessica Cruz & Simon Baz will be featured heavily in both the Justice League title by Bryan Hitch and the Green Lantern title by Sam Humphries does NOT change these opinions.)

 

DC recently, kinda, announced a new relaunch event for the summer called ‘Rebirth’. So Mark and Chad went into breaking news mode and pulled up a couple of mics to discuss what this news means for the DC Universe and Green Lantern in particular! Listen in! Be sure to chime in on our voice-mail at 708-LANTERN!

Download the episode HERE!

I was originally going to write a bigger piece to go with Chad’s post, but I decided to do this smaller standalone instead, especially since we do plan on posting an episode about DC’s “Rebirth” in the next few days.

 

Relaunching the DCU without a reboot makes little sense to me.  So as soon as I heard about the rumor, I figured it was going to be a reboot, even if a soft one.  Just keeping the status quo and giving us yet another wave of number one issues would probably accomplish nothing.  Especially when one considers the luster has pretty much come of the “New 52” brand as a whole these days.

 

When DC confirmed the news and released the “Rebirth” banner, besides adding to the reboot not just relaunch speculation, it also hinted at something else.  Green Lantern fans (and Flash fans too, to a lesser extent) know the term means something special to them, since it helped turn around the struggling GL book and helped launch an entire brand or franchise of books that catapulted Green Lantern to the top of the DCU, in relevance, popularity and sales.  It also has a direct link to the creators of both previous rebirths: Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver.

 

Considering Johns’ role at DC and WB, for DC to call an event “Rebirth” and Johns not be a major force behind it, if not THE force, would be mind-boggling.   With Convergence bringing back the entire multiverse last year and with the “Rebirth” of the DCU this summer, it definitely seems that the New 52 is about either go away or be modified into some sort of amalgam with the previous DCU or maybe be combined with several others.  If Johns is the architect of this reboot, then hopefully it will also have positive ramifications for the Green Lantern books, since the franchise clearly needs something to breathe some life into it. 

 

Despite Robert Venditti and Cullen Bunn’s best efforts, the pendulum has not been swinging in the right direction for a while now.  It makes sense that, whether it is a relaunch or reboot, DC take this opportunity to shake up the direction and the creative teams across the board on all books that are doing as well as they would like or expect.

 

-Mark Marble

Early yesterday Bleeding Cool announced a recent rumor going around that DC was going to relaunch all of their titles this summer with new #1 issues. As reported, these titles would all be more closely tied to the versions of the characters seen in DC film and television. Obiously this would mean more titles featuring characters like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Arrow, Harley Quinn, the Suicide Squad, and more.

 

By the time mid afternoon rolled around, Dan DiDio, Jim Lee, and other posted the below image to their various social media accounts.

 

https://twitter.com/dandidio1/status/690640882182283265

#Rebirth pic.twitter.com/3NhY3CTTOt

— Jim Lee (@JimLee) January 22, 2016

 

So it’s now, as of this posting, all but OFFICIALLY confirmed by the powers that be at DC Comics.

 

What does this mean for Green Lantern and the related titles in their line-up? Well the short answer is, “We don’t know”.

 

With an emphasis supposedly on more widespread media incarnations of their characters, it’s hard to know where GL will fall. Warner/DC have been very tight lipped about Green Lantern. Rumor has it he’ll be appearing in the final act of the ‘Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice’ film alongside the other founders of the JLA. Rumor has it he’ll also be played by Dan Amboyer. But that’s just it, they’re all rumors. As for DCTV on the CW, GL has been the butt of many an Easter egg, but not much in the way of FULL ON character or casting reveals. 

 

Now, this ‘Rebirth’ event won’t be happening until this summer. By then, Green Lantern could, if the rumors are true, be revealed in BVSDoJ. Since he’d, hypothetically, then be revealed that means the floodgates could open concerning the rest of the plans for the Green Lantern mythos on the silver screen. MAYBE. But as things stand now, we don’t have much to go on with regards to the popular media interpretation of Green Lantern.

 

That could mean a few things.

 

It could mean that, like the New 52, Green Lantern and related titles will come out the other side of this relaunch relatively unscathed. But that’s doubtful.

 

Green Lantern sales and popularity haven’t been really high since Geoff Johns left the books. *EX: ‘Green Lantern’ #46 was ranked 62nd out of 100 for the month of November while the ‘Justice League: Darkseid War: Green Lantern’ one shot was ranked 81st. ‘Sinestro’ didn’t even break the top 100. That’s a decline from the prior month where ‘Green Lantern’ stood at 55th place for #45 and ‘Sinestro’ was ranked 98th for issue #16, just below the 97th spot held by ‘Star Trek/Green Lantern’ #4. For DC, cracking the top 100 could be considered an popular title, to be honest, we don’t know that information. Maybe they only consider the top 50 worth a shot? Maybe it’s the top 100? Maybe they don’t care about those numbers at all, maybe they just care about profit margins. Who knows but DC? The point is, regardless of quality, DC’s Lantern titles have been slowly falling.

(* – This information taken from the Dec & Jan issues of PREVIEWS magazine)

 

Would Robert Venditti stay on the title? Would Cullen Bunn stay on Sinestro? Would there even be a Sinestro title?

 

Like we said, right now, we just don’t know.

 

If this all spells goodbye for the teams behind ‘Green Lantern’ & ‘Sinestro’ (‘Green Lantern: Edge of Oblivion’ & ‘Omega Men’ not mentioned as the titles were already announced as either limited runs or being cancelled) then we wish them well. Regardless of how we PERSONALLY feel about those issues and their direction, it’s clear they were fun books for A LOT of Lantern fans. And any injection of excitement into the GL mythos is something worth thanking a creative team for. Personally, I feel bad for Cullen Bunn in all of this. After the Aquaman stuff, the sudden cancellation of ‘Lost Army’, and now this, things don’t seem to be going his way at DC lately. Particularly in regards to ‘Sinestro’. Cullen has been purposefully making sure that, while exploring “the Paling”, he establishes the Sinestro Corps as the rightful replacements for the absent Green Lantern Corps. A move that, rightfully, needs to be EARNED within the pages of the comic before we believe it. And now that he’s nearly there, the rug is (possibly) pulled out from under him before he’s got a chance to tell the stories on the other side of the new status quo he was trying to set up all this time.

 

But again, this all pre-supposes that the teams are changing or the books are being cancelled on the other side of “Rebirth”. They might not be. We REALLY don’t know a whole heckuvalot right now. Rest assured we’ll let you know when we DO know more, either here, on our Facebook page, on our twitter, or on the podcast itself.

 

-Chad Bokelman

 

UPDATE #1: Literally before I even hit post, Geoff Johns retweeted Jim Lee’s tweet to Ethan Van Sciver with a sly message…

 

@EthanVanSciver Hmmm… 😉 https://t.co/r5MwsFYoCk

— Geoff Johns (@geoffjohns) January 22, 2016

 

Does this mean Geoff and Ethan are returning to either the Flash or Green Lantern? God only knows. But we hope so, if only temporarily…

Mark and Chad return to their microphones to bring you their thoughts on the November Lantern related titles! How many people does it take to put Black Hand back together again? What the hell is a Light God? Of all people, WHY Wonder Woman? These are the questions we…well, answer is the wrong word. Anyway, all of this and LISTENER FEEDBACK!! (some of it from GIRLS!) So LISTEN IN! Be sure to chime in on our voice-mail at 708-LANTERN!

Download the episode HERE!

Mark and Chad take a few moments, ok about two hours, to run down the more important bits of news from the 2015 San Diego Comic Con! Deadpool, X-Men, The Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, Suicide Squad, Gambit, Batman V Superman and MORE!!!!! Complete with special audio clips! BANGARANG! Be sure to chime in on our voice-mail at 708-LANTERN!

Download the episode HERE!