‘I Won’t Say It Didn’t Sting’

Summary

• Finn Wittrock expresses his disappointment in the cancellation of the
  Green Lantern
  series, which was originally slated to stream on the old HBO Max platform.
• Wittrock was cast to portray the rogue protector of Sector 2814, Guy Gardner.
• Nathan Fillion will be portraying Guy Gardner in the 2025
  Superman
  movie, staying true to the character’s iconic red hair and bowl cut.

“In brightest day, in blackest night” just hasn’t worked out yet for DC Comics’ live-action attempts at Green Lantern. Years after Ryan Reynolds unsuccessfully brought Sector 2814’s protector, Hal Jordan, to the big screen in 2011, a Green Lantern series was announced, which would have streamed on what was HBO Max back then. Finn Wittrock officially joined the project in April of 2021, and he was cast to portray another of Earth’s GLs, Guy Gardner. Today, the actor revealed the “sting” of learning the show had been cancelled. Wittrock said in an interview with ComicBook.com:

“I won’t say it didn’t sting
to find out the news that it wasn’t happening. But I think it was nice because
I got to realize what I would need to do to prepare for a role like that.
So,
hopefully, some other comic book role will — the one that’s supposed to be — will come my way.
And then at least, [I’ll] like have some kind of heads up about how to enter that world.”

Superman (2025)

Written and directed by James Gunn, Superman is the first movie in Warner Bros.’ rebooted DC Universe to center around the titular comic book hero. It introduces a new version of the Man of Steel after Henry Cavill’s departure from the role, honoring the character’s roots as “the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way.”

In the first official film of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC Universe (DCU), Superman will feature a number of superheroes from the comic books, including Guy Gardner. However, as most diehard fans already know, it will be Nathan Fillion who slips on the Power Ring for the Silver Screen in 2025.

Finn Wittrock Started His Own GL Comic Book Collection

While Ryan Reynolds’ Green Lantern might not rank among the worst superhero movies of all time, like Batman & Robin (1997), the 2011 comic book flick couldn’t find its audience. 10 years later, Finn Wittrock was cast as GL Guy Gardner on a then HBO Max series that never materialized. However, Wittrock was so determined to be ready to portray the character that he actually ended up with a little comic book collection of his own, because of the amount of research he gathered. Wittrock also told ComicBook.com in the same sit-down:

“I had like 20 Green Lantern comics sitting in my closet.
I was starting to read the comics.
My five-year-old son
would find the comics and be like, ‘Dad, what’s this?’ And I was like,
‘Research from a project that never was.’
But yeah, it gave me a great education, into Green Lantern already.
And now, I’m kind of hooked on to the story.”

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While there’s not a lot of information available about what Superman’s Guy Gardner will be like, Nathan Fillion has teased Guy’s flawed nature. As far as appearances go, whether the character was sporting his green or yellow Power Ring, one thing that remained constant for Gardner (the majority of the time) was his trademark red, bowl cut hairstyle. And Wittrock was even ready to rock that, with some trepidation, though. Wittrock said in the same interview:

Well, I knew… I knew the fans wouldn’t forgive me if I didn’t have the red hair and the bowl cut. So, yeah, I was preparing… I was mentally preparing, not physically. I was gonna wait till the last possible second for that.

And in case anyone missed it, James Gunn hilariously appeared to have confirmed that Fillion’s Green Lantern will also sport the red bowl cut in Superman (via Threads):

Giving my old pal Nate a bowl cut might have been my primary reason for casting him 😂

Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner can be seen in theaters when
Superman
soars up, up and away on July 11, 2025.

You can view the original article HERE.