The adventure begins early on in Green Lantern

Usually when a new superhero makes the transition from comic to screen we get an origins story which gets us familiar with the characters, the powers, and the universe, and it is often the case that what people are really waiting for is the sequel where the action and story can kick in. From the looks of things Marvel are going down the origins route with Thor and Captain America, so they can set the characters up for The Avengers.

Another superhero making his big screen debut is Green Lantern, and Ryan Reynolds recently told MTV that while the film will be an origin story, the adventure will kick in pretty early on:

“I think you walk away from this first film, and the moments that you remember and the moments that mean so much to you, not unlike ‘Iron Man,’ are the moments where the guy’s not in the suit,” said Reynolds.

However, Reynolds acknowledged that developing those moments amid the cosmic action central to “Green Lantern” is a daunting task — after all, a test pilot who receives a super-powered ring from a dying alien is likely to demand a much different tone than a billionaire industrialist building his own battle armor.

“That to me is the tough thing to get right,” he explained. “And that’s something that they did get right [in 'Iron Man']. You see why this guy’s in the suit, and that’s what’s interesting to me. Not that he is in the suit, but why.”

With “Green Lantern” scheduled to begin shooting next year (possibly in New Orleans), Reynolds shied away from calling the film’s plot an origin story, despite the need to introduce Hal Jordan to mainstream movie audiences.

“It is [an origin story] to a certain degree, but it’s not a labored origin story, where the movie [truly] begins in the third act,” he explained. “The movie starts when it starts. We find out Hal is the guy fairly early on, and the adventure begins.”

Marvel have already got a fairly big head start in creating their superhero universe, and it seems Warner Bros. are cutting a few corners to catch up. I’m sure Green Lantern will be great though. Martin Campbell is a capable director.