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The world may never get to see Chris Pine play Green Lantern Hal Jordan in a DC movie universe, but fans who believed he was perfect for the role aren’t totally out of luck. They’re not alone in their opinions, either, as one legendary artist quietly cast Chris Pine as the Justice League superhero over a decade ago.
The roster of live action Green Lanterns is growing rapidly, with Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner kicking off the DCU’s new team in James Gunn’s Superman, followed soon after by Lanterns’ Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre (playing Hal Jordan and John Stewart, respectively). But for all that excitement, there is the unavoidable grief that the Wonder Woman (2017) star never got the chance to bring portray Hal Jordan on screen. Thankfully, there’s no erasing the Justice League storyline that unofficially cast Chris Pine as Green Lantern in DC’s comic universe.
Chris Pine Became The Green Lantern (in DC Comics)
Justice League of America (2015) by Bryan Hitch, Daniel Henriques, Andrew Currie, Alex Sinclair, et al
Credit for this artistic casting call can be laid entirely at the feet of the acclaimed Bryan Hitch, veteran of both Marvel and DC Comics, and the writer and artist of the 2015 Justice League of America comic book in which the ‘Pine-like’ Hal Jordan was born. It isn’t the first time that a celebrity or actor’s likeness was sublty incorporated into a comic book character, and the white-eyed masks help to keep things ambiguous (a problem we’ve remedied above). But there’s no mistaking the source material for this take on Green Lantern.
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By the halfway point of the series, Hitch’s illustrations of Hal Jordan made his tongue-in-cheek tribute increasingly hard to ignore. With the exception of interspered issues from other artists (Philip Tan, Tom Derenick), the Justice League of America series saw Hal Jordan’s design evolve from the boyish looks of Star Trek‘s Captain Kirk, all the way through to the bearded Pine of Outlaw King (mirroring Pine’s own changing style, in hindsight). And through it all, every issue proves the Chris Pine/Green Lantern fan casting was always a brilliant call.
Hitch’s Justice League of America run would end prematurely at Issue #10, with the writer/artist shifting duties to the impending Justice League: Rebirth relaunch.
The Entire Justice League Was Inspired By DC Actors
Bryan Hitch’s Inspirations Were Clear For Fans of DC Film & TV
The adherence to Pine’s appearance wasn’t a unique case, either. Readers of the JLA book can enjoy seeing one of the industry’s top artists drawing Superman in the equally unmistakable style of Henry Cavill, a Batman reminiscent of Batman Begins‘ Christian Bale, and even artwork of Barry Allen that is eerily similar to the unmistakable cowl of The CW’s own Flash, Grant Gustin. All unacknowledged, but impossible for devoted fans of DC’s live-action properties to completely miss.
So whatever the future may hold for the actor or role, disappointed fans wondering what could have been need not fret, and instead enjoy the DC Comics story which gave Chris Pine’s Green Lantern a place among DC’s greatest movie and TV stars.
“}]] Chris Pine won’t star in a Green Lantern movie, but the comics made it a reality. Read More