Green Lantern screenwriter Michael Green wants Ricky Whittle to play John Stewart (Exclusive)

Green Lantern screenwriter Michael Green hasn’t given up on the idea of returning to the DC Comics character.

He penned the script to the 2011 film, starring Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan, with Gregg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim and tells Yahoo Movies UK that they had come up with ideas for future movies.

Of course, they never got the chance to bring these to life because of the critical and commercial failure of the film but Warner Bros. are set to reboot the franchise with Green Lantern Corps after reintroducing the intergalactic heroes in Justice League.

Green, however, went onto comic book movie success with his and James Mangold’s adaptation of Mark Millar’s Old Man Logan graphic novel, Logan, which this year earned serious praise from critics and audiences alike.

The screenwriter took time out to talk to Yahoo Movies UK about his superhero future…

Yahoo Movies: Green Lantern wasn’t a great success when it was released but would you like to have another go at the character?

Michael Green: I feel like my experience on Green Lantern is very much unfinished and there are stories to tell there. That was not a film that turned out the way we’d hoped going in and I think there is an appetite for a better version of that.

YM:S urely with your Logan success Warner Bros. would want to bring you back into the DCEU fold?

MG: I think anything is possible, there are characters I love and I’d love to spend more time with I don’t have any immediate plans for it now. I actually quite like all of the producers and executives involved in the DC films and at Warner Bros, some that I’ve known for a long time and some that I haven’t worked with for a long time and would be happy to again. Anything is possible but nothing is in the works.

YM: But you’ve got plenty of ideas – can you share any?

MG: I will say that my partners on Green Lantern, Gregg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim, spent a lot of time talking about all the potential for subsequent Green Lantern films and I still love every idea that we discussed I don’t think they will ever come to fruition, not as we imagined them I don’t think. If there’s a Green Lantern Corps to be done it will be all new fresh thinking.

And who would you cast as the next Green Lantern?

MG: I’ll probably get angry texts if I don’t say what’s in my heart which is that Ricky Whittle would make a fantastic John Stewart.

Whittle is currently starring in Green’s TV adaptation of the Neil Gaiman’s novel, American Gods, so it’s no surprise that the writer would champion the British actor.

Stewart was a big deal for DC Comics as it was their first African-American superhero to feature on their pages. He was chosen by the Guardians as a back-up to Hal Jordan and often completed missions when Hal was away, including some Justice League missions.

It seems highly likely that Stewart will appear in the Green Lantern Corps movie, which is reportedly being penned by David S. Goyer and Justin Rhodes, with the story written by Goyer and Geoff Johns.

However, as it’s not expected for release until 2020 we might have to wait awhile before we find out which actors will be donning the green rings.

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