Actor Ryan Reynolds attends the 'Green Lantern' Germany premiere in 2011. Photo / Getty
Actor Ryan Reynolds attends the 'Green Lantern' Germany premiere in 2011. Photo / Getty
Green Lantern was a stinker, even Ryan Reynolds is happy to admit that. So why did he accept the role?
"I didn't know much about the Green Lantern going in, and I didn't know what it would be like to do something on that scale and be part of something on that gigantic superhero juggernaut machine that Warner Bros. had over there," Reynolds said to Variety.
"In the end, the movie didn't really work or didn't meet the expectations the studio had for it, for many reasons, but it was one of those things where I was an actor for hire and I think at the time I would have been a fool not to take it or jump at the chance to try and be a part of something like that."
Reynolds also said yes to the role in the 2011 movie in the hope it would help him make Deadpool, which he'd been dreaming of for years, a reality.
Actors Blake Lively (L) and Ryan Reynolds arrive at the Green Lantern premiere in 2011. Photo / Getty
"Deadpool was always a passion project of mine - I just could not get it off the ground as hard as I tried," Reynolds said to Variety.
"We came close to the starting gate at a number of different studios and iterations. Right before I signed on for The Green Lantern I went back to Fox and asked one last time if there was any way, shape or form they would see this character of Deadpool in their future. At the time that answer was 'No.' Now, this is a completely different regime than what we have currently at Fox, but that particular regime didn't see the benefits of it, and for a variety of reasons that I can understand: it's rated-R, it's meta, it's intense, it's many things they're not used to."
Green Lantern had a budget of $US200 million but made just $219 million worldwide and it was absolutely savaged by critics.
"Green Lantern is a new primer on how not to make a comic book movie unless you want to screw shit up. Flat FX, smirky acting, clunky writing and clueless direction. WTF?" - Rolling Stone
"A relentlessly silly superhero flick with eyeball-rolling dialogue - set in vast, familiar-looking digital realms that look like rejected models from the second Star Wars trilogy." - New York Post
"The lantern kind of resembles a funky bong, and if you were to make use of one before seeing Green Lantern, the film would be a lot more fun." - Miami Herald
"Even by the standards of the current run of mediocre comic-book movies, this one stands out for its egregious shoddiness." - Slate
Despite it's lacklustre performance at the box office, Reynolds' career survived and when he was finally able to get Deadpool off the ground, it turned out to be the most successful movie of his career.
"I'm so happy that's it's become something of cultural phenomenon," he said.
"I'll walk out of my apartment in New York City and I can't believe it: I'll see something like 300 Deadpools in any square block. It's mind-blowing to me."
