Had the 2011 Green Lantern movie starring Ryan Reynolds been a part of the DCEU, the franchise would have looked very different today. In 2011, with the superhero genre going from strength to strength during the early stages of the MCU, DC was ironing out plans for a franchise of their own. Early on, this included the idea to incorporate Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy into what became the DCEU, but there was also another movie that could have served as the first film in the franchise had things worked out differently.
After spending 14 years in development hell, Green Lantern introduced Ryan Reynolds' version of the titular hero to a live-action format. Following the story of Reynolds' Hal Jordan, as he assumes the mantle of Green Lantern, the film made a valiant attempt at capturing the basic essence of the character while still appealing to a wide audience. However, Green Lantern was widely criticized upon release for its writing, poor CGI, and overly comedic tone. As a result, Green Lantern was swiftly swept under the rug, and plans for future DC movies moved on without it.
Had things worked out slightly differently, however, Green Lantern could theoretically have served as the beginning of the DCEU. Despite its shortcomings, Green Lantern had more than a few traits that would have proven beneficial to the DCEU, whose problems have been substantial and well-documented. In addition, the DCEU could have retroactively addressed some of the issues with Green Lantern, making Reynolds' hero an integral part of the franchise's world in the process.
Reynolds' Green Lantern Would Have Made The DCEU Less Gritty
One of the most criticized aspects of the DCEU (as it stands) is its tone is often needlessly gritty. However, had Green Lantern marked the franchise's beginning, this may have been less of an issue. Tonal consistency itself ironically hasn't been a problem within the DCEU, with the unnecessary grittiness carrying over multiple films. Therefore, had the distinctly more light-hearted Green Lantern started the DCEU, it would likely have been less dark a proposition overall.
Though many things went wrong with Green Lantern, its comedic tone was the first aspect of the movie to draw the ire of both audiences and critics alike. However, regardless of how it was received, had Green Lantern started the DCEU, that light-hearted and humorous approach would likely have transferred - at least in part - to subsequent films in the franchise. This means that the DCEU would potentially have been less grim from the very beginning, using Ryan Reynolds' Green Lantern as the basis for a less serious franchise.
The DCEU Could Have Fixed Issues With Reynolds' Green Lantern
Though Green Lantern was a critical flop in 2011, many of its biggest issues could easily have been retroactively resolved by some things that the DCEU does well. One of the biggest criticisms of Green Lantern was its bad CGI, but visual effects are widely considered one of the DCEU's stronger points. Though there have been instances of bad CGI in the DCEU (particularly Justice League), it's far better than that of Green Lantern, meaning that the reconciliation of the two could have solved one of the biggest issues with Reynolds' film.
One of the other major issues with Green Lantern was its story, which was widely criticized at the time for being poorly written. This is another thing that the DCEU is far better at and, therefore, could have resolved after the fact by giving Ryan Reynolds another outing as Hal Jordan. Though fixing the narrative mess left by Green Lantern wouldn't have been an easy task, fixing Hal Jordan's arc would have been plausible had the character found himself face-to-face with Superman after the events of Man of Steel. Being a part of the DCEU would also likely have made Green Lantern 2 happen, which also could have fixed Reynolds' hero by making him a better fit into the franchise.
The DCEU Would Already Have Established Sci-Fi Elements (Before Man Of Steel)
Though Green Lantern's story was considered far too lighthearted and comedic for a DC property at the time, it introduced several important ideas that would have proven incredibly important had the film begun the DCEU. It introduced the Green Lantern Corps and a number of its members and also set up one of DC's biggest villains, Sinestro (Mark Strong). Green Lantern is one of DC's most well-known sci-fi heroes, second perhaps only to Superman, and if Green Lantern had actually been the beginning of the DCEU, it would have changed the franchise's sci-fi elements considerably.
Again, the difference would largely come down to reconciling the tone of Green Lantern with that of the DCEU films that followed it. Following the example set by Green Lantern, Snyder's DCEU debut's high-concept sci-fi elements would likely have been more simple and organic to fit Superman's established story. Though Green Lantern was criticized for not being particularly faithful to the comics, its approach to the sci-fi elements of its story was actually far easier to digest than the exposition-heavy aspects of Man of Steel. Had Green Lantern started the DCEU, the otherworldly parts of the franchise's story would have felt decidedly less bleak, which likely would have been a good thing for the DCEU as a whole.
Justice League Would Have Been Much Better With Reynolds' Green Lantern
Not unlike Green Lantern, the DCEU's Justice League was poorly received in 2017 and struggled to deliver a coheseive tone and story. However, if Ryan Reynolds' Hal Jordan had been a part of the DCEU, Justice League's story would have likely played out very differently. Another character with alien-based powers would have helped even the odds against the powerful Steppenwolf and would have added an extra facet to the film's action scenes. In fact, the absence of a Green Lantern from Justice League's story was felt keenly, as the character is traditionally a valuable part of the team, particularly when Earth itself is threatened by alien forces.
Interestingly, one of the things that Justice League struggled with was finding appropriate means of injecting humor into its serious story. Had Green Lantern been part of the DCEU from the start, the grittier tone would not have been an issue, but Ryan Reynolds' natural affinity for comedy and action could also have been put to excellent use alongside the other heroes of the Justice League in Snyder's movie. Though combining one poorly-received film with an almost equally poorly-received franchise seems like a bad idea, Green Lantern's theoretical place in the DCEU would have changed the very foundation of the franchise, which may well have been a good thing.
