Ryan Reynolds Gets Candid After Finally Watching Green Lantern

On March 17, actor Ryan Reynolds decided to do something he'd never done before in preparation for the Snyder Cut of Justice League: he watched 2011's Green Lantern, in which he starred as one of DC's most iconic superheroes. Fortunately for fans, he live-tweeted the whole thing. Reynolds has been notoriously hard on the film in the past (including in that memorable end credits scene in Deadpool 2), but on St. Patrick's Day, he got candid about his foray into DC Comics' superhero universe. Green Lantern, which has a 26% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, was meant to succeed Christopher Nolan's trilogy of Batman films as a superhero franchise, but it only earned $219 million at the box office on a $200 million budget according to The Wrap, ending any plans for a sequel. For Reynolds, it constituted a career hiccup; he said in Variety's Actors on Actors series, "I represented the death of the superhero for a while, so you know, after Green Lantern, in that category, I was pretty much un-hirable."

Fortunately Reynolds bounced back and he's been pretty honest about his Green Lantern experience in the past, saying that he jokes about it to laugh at himself and "my own contribution to that failure or however you want to characterize it." "In examining it, you take that energy that is, typically maybe it's hurtful or maybe it's something that's dragging you down — and you end up creating a sort of mental Judo with it. You're using its energy against it and creating something positive out of it," Reynolds said (via Cinemablend).

Hopefully Reynolds' recent live-tweeting experience exorcised some of that remaining negative energy while providing plenty of entertainment for fans.

Ryan Reynolds kicked things off with a shameless plug, tweeting that he made a cocktail to help him get through Green Lantern, consisting of Aviation Gin (which he owns), Apple Pucker liqueur, ginger ale and lemon juice. Prior to the movie's start, he pondered if it was too late for a Snyder Cut-style release of the movie. Reynolds called the occasion "genuinely exciting," revealing that he'd only ever seen his portions of the script. During the course of his viewing, he called his protagonist "reckless but likable." "Do you have any idea how weird it is to act while being attacked by invisible space energy?" Reynolds asked rhetorically. 

Reynolds also made fun of the CGI but praised the actors, calling out his co-stars Peter Sarsgaard, Taika Waititi and Blake Lively. He also praised his own acting when it came to reciting the Green Lantern oath: "I stand by my oath performance." Reynolds even showed off the fact that he still has a prop from the show: the ring that activates Green Lantern's powers. 

When all was said and done, Reynolds tweeted his final impression: "Maybe it's the Aviation Gin talking, but #GreenLantern was nothing to fear! Hundreds of incredible crew and cast members did amazing work — and while it's not perfect, it ain't a tragedy. Next time I won't wait a decade to watch."