Why Quentin Tarantino Turned Down The Green Lantern Movie

Before becoming the Ryan Reynolds-starring disaster we know it as today, the first big screen adaptation of "Green Lantern" nearly saw a very different visionary at the helm. Famed writer-director Quentin Tarantino was tapped to take on the DC Comics character at one point, but not even Green Lantern's light was strong enough to fuel his passion for the project.

Speaking with MTV in 2009, the Oscar winner shared that he was offered "Lantern" before a script had been written. Tarantino admitted that it would have been a dream come true at another point in his life. "So there's a little part of me that's like, 'Wow, if I was in my 20s, this would be the genre I'd want to specialize in," he said. However, by this point, the filmmaker's interest in such storytelling had waned, telling MTV, "But there also is an aspect where I've kind of outgrown that a little bit."

Tarantino continued that if he were to switch his Red Apple Cigarettes for tights and a cape, he wouldn't want to adapt an existing superhero property. "I'm a writer," he comments. "I'd want to use my imagination and not have to fight with geeks' memories of how this character should be ... If I were to do something like that, I would want the fun of coming up with the superhero myself." It may seem dramatic to jump to this conclusion, but fan backlash is part of what has kept Tarantino away from taking on such subjects.

Nowadays, it's near impossible to imagine Quentin Tarantino helming a superhero film, given the director's outspoken criticism of today's comic book movie industry. So it may come as a surprise to some that two other comic book superheroes almost saw their cinematic debuts under Tarantino. 

The first instance saw Tarantino allegedly send a screenplay for a potential Silver Surfer film to the German production company Constantin. Despite having made a splash with his directorial debut "Reservoir Dogs," Constantin turned down the project. However, his next unmade superhero adaptation saw Tarantino nearly tackle an even more beloved property.   

In a 2020 interview on Amy Schumer's "3 Girls, 1 Keith" podcast, Tarantino shared how his third film would have brought one of his favorite comic book characters, Luke Cage, to the big screen. However, trouble getting some of his friends, comic book enthusiasts, to agree with his casting choices ultimately dampened his interest. "I had an idea that Larry Fishburne would've been the perfect guy to play Luke Cage," he explained (per The Guardian). "But all my friends were like, 'No, no, listen, it's got to be Wesley Snipes.' And I go, 'Look, I like Wesley Snipes, but Larry Fishburne is practically Marlon Brando.'" If the stress of these opinions stopped Tarantino from pursuing the passion project any further, it's safe to say that "Green Lantern" would not have been the best experience for the filmmaker. 

The reputation of 2011's "Green Lantern" as a horrible studio-tampered box office bomb has yet to wane amongst superhero fans. Even those who worked on the film are apologizing for it to this day. In a 2021 Screen Rant interview, director Martin Campbell commented that he shouldn't have even touched the project. Meanwhile, star Ryan Reynolds found the film's making to be a frustrating experience, telling Empire Magazine, "You really need a visionary behind a movie like that, but it was the classic studio story: 'We have a poster, but we don't have a script or know what we want; let's start shooting!'" While Quentin Tarantino receives more creative control than your average director, it seems there wasn't much anyone could do to save the final product. 

The character's recent screen endeavors have been similarly tumultuous. In 2019, it was announced that a "Green Lantern" TV series was being developed under CW Arrowverse producer and 2011 "Green Lantern" co-writer Greg Berlanti. However, things would take a turn in 2022 when the show switched from focusing on Guy Gardner and Alan Scott to John Stewart, dropping Finn Wittrock and Jeremy Irvine from the cast who would have played the respective Green Lanterns. Ultimately, showrunner Seth Grahame-Smith exited the series and the show would be canceled and replaced by James Gunn and Peter Safran's upcoming "Lanterns" series.