Now seen as a relic of the past, the Arrowverse was the CW born DC Universe that contained shows like Arrow, The Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow among others. The universe was born with the show Arrow, and spun off into a full fledged universe that allowed for crossovers as massive as Crisis on Infinite Earths, which was arguably the climax of the television universes run. While the universe ended in 2024 with Superman and Lois, the shows will always hold a place in most super hero media lovers hearts because of the impact it had for both DC characters and the idea of shared universes in general.
One of the universes creators, Marc Guggenheim, was recently interviews by The Cosmic Circus and shared that at one point, they wanted to bring Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan aka Green Lantern into the shows, presumably for the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover. The 2011 Green Lantern film starring Reynolds was written by Guggenheim and in a sense was the first entry into what eventually became the Arrowverse. It’s been stated in the past that The Flash season one was originally a script for a spin off Flash film that would have been an extension of the Green Lantern film. Those plans fell through and it became a show, just going to show how much the Green Lantern film and the Arrowverse do have in common. In the end it fell through because they never received a response from the actor.
UK: That makes sense. And then, on the cameo track, I know not everyone that you wanted to get for Crisis on Infinite Earths worked out.
MG: Pretty much got everybody. Pretty much. The only person that we didn’t get who I wanted was, I wanted to repurpose B-roll from the Green Lantern movie, and have Ryan Reynolds in it. And Ryan, you know, never got back to us, so… But that was the only thing that really didn’t pan out.know not everyone that you wanted to get for Crisis on Infinite Earths worked out.
The major DC crossover included faces from almost every DC media franchise from the past, going all the way back to a Burt Ward cameo who played Robin back in the late 60s, so it makes sense why they attempted to bring Ryan Reynolds into the story as well. They don’t mention if its for a cameo or for an actual significant role within the story, but either way the inclusion of the Green Lantern would have been a great way to show the connectivity of the presumably-connected universes and also include another iconic DC character into the established universe.
Also in the interview, Guggenheim talks about the doing the Suicide Squad in the series and how the movie squashed established plans with that group of characters. He explains why the shows could only use characters inconsistently or only when the studio would allow them to, which was not all the time. He also mentions that got into a bit of trouble over doing a Harley Quinn cameo (in voice only) at the end of a season two episode of Arrow. At the end of the day, the rest of the interview just reestablished information we’ve heard in the past from the Arrowverse creators, but its still run to reminisce.
Despite the success of the Arrowverse, Reynolds was very vocal about his feelings on the portrayal of Green Lantern and the overall film itself, going as far as to include him being killed off by his other comic alter-ego, Deadpool, during a post credit scene of Deadpool 2. The film did take its fair share of criticism online so it makes sense why the actor would want to distance himself from the character. It would have been fun to see Reynolds bring back Green Lantern alongside the rest of the Arrowverse characters, but at the end of the day you have to respect the decision that was made given the reception of the film.
Would you have liked to see Ryan Reynolds bring back Hal Jordan for the Arrowverse? Let us know your thoughts below!
Source: The Cosmic Circus
