Trailer Time: Lanterns

CLICK THIS LINK TO SEE TRAILER ON YOUTUBE

I have some thoughts.

I have no issues with a darker take on the Green Lantern storyline.  There is the classic "Hard-Traveling Heroes" story from the 1970's.  And this version of Hal Jordan looks a lot like the one from the early 1990's, where he was going through a mid-life crisis.  This can be fertile ground for some really good storytelling.  And the actors look very good in their roles of Hal Jordan and John Stewart.

However...

I am uneasy about what I am seeing.

First of all, I do not like the vulgarity.  (This is the reason I am not embedding the trailer here on my blog)  Once again James Gunn (who is main person overseeing the DCU) is indulging his darker impulses.  When he gives himself guardrails and tells a story that is not for mature audiences, he creates excellent work like Guardians of the Galaxy or Superman.  But when he lets those working with him to go dark, it all falls apart.  The Suicide Squad was one of the worst movies I have seen.  Creature Commandos and Peacemaker are nihilistic pieces of garbage.  

My fear is that Lanterns is more Peacemaker than Superman.

This is especially seen in the portrayal of Hal Jordan.  He is the quintessential Green Lantern.  But in the trailer, he looks like a cynic, which is not part of his character.  Hal is a lot of things, but he is not cynical.  I don't mind the rivalry between him and John Stewart.  In the comics, they started as more rivals than friends.  But I get the feeling that John is being set up as the "real" hero who is going to replace the tottering Hal.  It feels almost like a Rey/Luke situation.

Again, back the vulgarity, that really does not feel like Hal Jordan.  There is a reason that the power we beware is his light, not his darkness.

The fact that Tom King has a hand in this has me very pessimistic.  King does not understand the characters he writes about.  Instead, he uses characters as vehicles for his themes.  He wants to write about trauma, so he uses Wally West and makes him a murderer.  Or he wants to write about war crimes so he turns Adam Strange into one.  

I have the feeling King wants to write about older, cynical veterans and he is going to use Jordan to do it while ignoring who he is as a person.

Maybe I'm wrong.  But I need to see more before making a decision.

Thoughts