Finn Wittrock Is Opening Up About The HBO Max Green Lantern Series
Despite the dozens of superheroes we've seen on-screen over the past decade and change, one iconic character has been left untouched. Ever since Ryan Reynolds starred in the 2011 film, "Green Lantern," in which he played Hal Jordan, a member of the Green Lantern Corps, Warner Bros. has seemed hesitant to touch that character or any other Lantern. The studio hesitancy makes sense, considering that decade-old movie still has a mere 26% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and barely scraped back its production costs at the box office. For many fans of the DC comics, however, being deprived of such a popular character was a letdown.
Now, with HBO having greenlit "Green Lantern" for a series on HBO Max, their premiere streaming platform, those fans have reasons to be excited. Not only will the show feature far more than a single Green Lantern Corps member, it will follow its characters across the sweep of Green Lantern history and lore. One of those Lanterns will be played by Finn Wittrock of "American Horror Story" fame, who sat down with Entertainment Weekly to dish out some details on the show, his character, and how he manages to make the role likeable.
Wittrock calls the story 'epic'
"Green Lantern" will follow an array of Lanterns, from Alan Scott, an F.B.I. agent hiding his queer identity in the early 1940s, to Wittrock's Guy Gardner, whom the network has referred to as "a hulking mass of masculinity." While that doesn't exactly sound like a lovable character, the studio insisted he will be "somehow likeable." Wittrock, who has already noted how daunting the audition process was, seems to agree, despite admitting that the character has the potential to be a "polarizing figure."
"He takes on a lot in this show. He's a pretty big part of it. I think it's an interesting way in [to the story]. It's not the conventional way in, but I think people might see a side of him they didn't know was there," said Wittrock.
The studio has also referred to the Guy Gardner character as "an embodiment of 1980s hyper-patriotism." Wittrock insists we're going to be dazzled nonetheless. "It is really cool how sprawling a story it is. It's pretty epic. It spans time and space and has something for everyone." He added, "It's not your average superhero story."