For a couple of years now, fans have been eagerly anticipating Green Lantern Corps, a film scheduled for release on July 24th 2020. Unlike its predecessor, this Green Lantern film will be a part of the DCEU, so there are some pretty high expectations. With that last Green Lantern film (directed by Martin Campbell) in mind, others might be a little cautious about getting their hopes up. As scary as it might be, we decided to take a look back at the 2011 Green Lantern film and at some of the concept art that went unused.
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These brilliant pieces of art display some things that would have been awesome and some things that might have actually made the film worse. Some of these might have been dismissed for a variety of reasons. Maybe it was because it would have required a larger budget or it might have just been a creative decision, whatever the reason, after you're done perusing through these images, you can compare it to what you saw on film and decide for yourself whether or not any of these would have redeemed it or saved it from its flaws. Excited? You should be. Here are 15 unused concept art pieces from Green Lantern.
15 A DIFFERENT LEAGUE
In the film, during Hal Jordan's brutal training session with Kilowog's (voiced by Michael Clarke Duncan), we see both of them using several constructs, none of which resembled what is depicted in the image above, with the exception of the rocks and the sun. Instead of the hockey stick and baseball glove, the film shows Hal using a metal wall, steel girders and all the will he can muster.
It might be clear to some why the filmmakers decided against using sport equipment. It just looks a little silly and makes Hal seem even more childish than his character was supposed to be. It didn't help that the CGI in the film was of infamously poor quality. Of all the bad decisions made for the film, not using this was not one of them.
14 ON GUARD
When Sinestro decides to briefly take over Hal Jordan's training, the first construct Hal conjures up is a sword. More specifically, a sabre. While it might have been a little less awesome than some of the constructs we see above, it made more sense with the Hal's story as it's his way of staying connected to his father.
That being said, it might have made that duel between Hal and Sinestro (played by Mark Strong) just a little more interesting if they weren't just using those plain swords and started working their way up a ladder of weapons. Of course, with some of these designs, it might have looked a little impractical and the Lanterns are nothing if not practical... for the most part. Maybe we'll get to see these designs used later in the DCEU.
13 FIST OF FURY
In the film, we see Hal unintentionally strike three attackers with a giant green fist in a parking lot outside of a bar. It sends them all flying back into cars with one of the attackers crashing through a brick wall. However, that's one of only two times we see him use a giant fist, which apparently, may not have been the intention.
The image above depicts him using that fist out in space, beating back what looks to be an alien. It makes sense that in the heat of battle, he'd resort to the simplicity and power of the classic punch to the face, albeit this time with a powerful alien ring. Sometimes less is more and if we'd seen him use that in his battles more than some elaborate construct, it might have saved those battles from the quality of the CGI.
12 GREEN ALIEN MONSTERS
Above we can see Kilowog and Hal training on a bridge much like they do in the film, only here we see Kilowog using a giant insect-like monster construct. It might seem strange because throughout the film, none of the Green Lanterns construct a living organism, in battle or out of it.
It's understandable why they wouldn't use this. The main antagonist, Parallax (voiced by Clancy Brown), is the living embodiment of fear and it wouldn't make much sense to show the Green Lanterns constructing anything that might purposefully evoke fear, like a giant monster would. After all, they're the good guys and these good guys don't need to use fear to win a fight. They just need the power of their will alone. Inanimate objects are better at representing the strength of one's will than living things.
11 MORE GREEN MONSTERS
One better representation of why they decided against using monstrous constructs is the image above in which Hal is beset upon by an even uglier monster, presumably another one of Kilowog's constructs. It shows a lot more fear than it does willpower. While it might have been a fun little sight during that training montage, we're glad they didn't end up using it for that scene.
But maybe they shouldn't have dismissed this piece completely, taking inspiration from it and using it for Parallax instead. It would fit the villain a lot better than it would Kilowog. Considering the Parallax we were given in the end, this might have been a much needed improvement, keeping in mind the nature of the film's yellow, oddly cloud-like antagonist.
10 TOY CARS
It was pretty lame when Hal constructed a Hot Wheels toy car when trying save Carol Ferris (played by Blake Lively) and Senator Robert Hammond (played by Tim Robbins) from a helicopter crash caused by a Parallax-infected Hector Hammond (played by Peter Sarsgaard). We're glad they didn't also include an almost toy-like truck somewhere else in the film as well.
Aside from making him seem way too childish, it might have also turned out to be one Hot Wheels product placement too many. That's the only way it could have served the film but it'd be a bad idea since it seems like a pretty impractical way to catch falling rocks, and it seemed like the race car construct at the party had already been forced. We're glad they went with the big metal construct instead.
9 ANOTHER ALIEN
This piece by Alfonso De La Torre shows us an alternate humanoid alien with blue skin and an appearance closer to your typical alien imagery with a few unique details. Namely, the forearms with radius and ulna are pretty much barren of muscles.
It might have been interesting to see more unique life forms like this in the film. We see a lot of other Green Lanterns but this particular alien isn't wearing a Green Lantern suit, so it might have been artwork depicting life on some other planet, hinting at a great scene and maybe even a slightly different plot. After all, the background doesn't appear to be Oa but another alien world. It's fun to wonder about it, even if we all know that its inclusion probably wouldn't have made the film any better.
8 HEART TO HEART
When Hal returns to Oa to interrupt a meeting between Sinestro and the Guardians, we see him fly past what looks to be an alien cemetery, filled with the graves of dead Lanterns. It's an interesting looking place that is never explored. This piece of concept art shows Sinestro, presumably lecturing Hal at that cemetery, hinting at what could have been a great scene.
The problem with Green Lantern was that none of it felt like it mattered. There was a destructive force heading toward Oa and Earth but the film failed to create a sense of dread or even weight to what it was the Green Lanterns were doing. We can assume from the image above that a scene wherein Sinestro lectures Hal about the Green Lantern Corps and the commitment required was actually considered and for whatever reason, rejected, which is a shame.
7 CONTROL
The film focused a little too much on Hal Jordan and not enough on the actual Green Lantern Corps he had unwittingly been selected to join. We saw them gather in a chamber to listen to Sinestro's speech and we see a couple of them in an ill-fated battle against Parallax, but other than that, what are they about? The film never really shows us.
The artwork above depicts a control room of sorts in which Green Lanterns are possibly monitoring Oa, maybe even the problems across the entire universe. Whatever the case, while it could have been an interesting little bit to include, it was ultimately rejected, leaving us to imagine and guess for ourselves how the Green Lanterns communicated from their sectors to the other Lanterns.
6 KRONA
We don't see a whole lot of Parallax prior to his transformation from Krona into the yellow cloud of fear energy. We see one scene in which he appears to be just like the other Guardians, dressed in the red robe with an disproportionately large head. These character concept models by Jerad Marantz, show us something better.
Just imagine if he removed the robe before hovering into the yellow energy, revealing something that appeared to be half twisted creature anyway. We'll let you guys read into what that could have meant, symbolically. The film ended up hesitant to show us what the Guardians appeared to be beneath the robes anyway, probably because the Guardians needed to seem like almost divine immortals. If they did use that body, though, would it really have hurt that image?
5 THE EMBODIMENT OF FEAR
Most people probably went into theatres expecting to see a Parallax that was worthy of the yellow energy of fear. They expected something large and terrifying, sort of like the creature depicted above, looming over what looks to be a smaller alien, possibly even a Guardian. Insectoid-like legs and whip-like, almost Lovecraftian tentacles reach out from the shadowy mass, forming something most movie-goers would be horrified to look at, in a way similar to the new monster in Stranger Things Season 2.
We don't know why they decided against this version of Parallax and opted for a giant head in a cloud. Maybe it was because they needed that dark reflection of the Guardians but if that's the case, it didn't work. In the comics, Parallax was a parasitic (and indeed insectoid) being that fed on fear and insecurity, a concept embodied by the creature depicted and not by what we got in the end.
4 WE'RE GOING TO NEED A BIGGER RING
When Parallax attacks the Earth, he slowly consumes it, sort of like the Blob from the late '50s. His battle with Hal Jordan felt a little as though he really was just a blob monster. He even falls to a cliche monologue that actually serves to motivate the hero into fighting harder. The monster above doesn't look like it would do anything like that, which might have made for a slightly more interesting battle.
The sheer scale of the creature is something that might have really shown audiences how much of a threat this creature is, before Hal forced it into space. With more of a form than the Parallax we ended up seeing, there might have been a little more weight behind the actions of the hero and antagonist, for the simple reason that we might have actually been able to see the destruction Parallax was leaving in his wake.
3 A LITTLE HELP OVER HERE?
A cloud-like force of evil wouldn't be so bad if it had been presented to us in a way that resembled the Parallax pictured above. A flood of varying monsters descend upon the people of Coast City while the Lanterns fight to protect them and fend of Parallax's attacks.
We didn't get that at all. Forget the fact that Parallax was underwhelming, we didn't even get a chance to see the Lanterns fight together like they do in this piece of concept art. It took just one Lantern, which wasn't so much a show of Hal Jordan's strength as it was a display of Parallax's lack thereof. If you're going to spend an entire movie building up to the attack of a terrifying beast from the depths of space, at least show us that it takes more than just a punch to the face near the sun to defeat it.
2 THE DARK REFLECTION
This alternate look for Parallax by Peter Rubin, shows us something just a little more humanoid. It's the featureless glowing face and dark tendrils that make this image a little terrifying, just like Green Lantern's classic foe should be. You can just imagine this being hurtling through space, a true creature to be feared.
You could just imagine the Lanterns fighting this version of Parallax in a battle that would conceivably be way more interesting, visually. A humanoid Parallax would have served the film symbolically as a dark reflection of the Guardians and as a representation of human fear against Hal Jordan's will. The film didn't go that route, which might be part of the reason why what was supposed to be a climactic ending, ended up being a lackluster affair.
1 DARK PARALLAX
This unique take on Parallax by Peter Rubin depicts the villain as a faceless Lovecraftian beast, lurking in the depths of space. It certainly evokes a much needed feeling of dread, though the midnight blue hue might seem a little out of place with the whole color scheme of the film: a lot of orange and a lot of green (duh).
The form of the creature could have been adapted but let's face it, it may not have worked out well enough, symbolically. Maybe this version of Parallax was too different from the rest of the races and the rest of the film. It might have been a good decision after all to reject this particular design, even though it would have looked awesome on its own on film.
What do you think about these pieces of concept art? Would they have made a better film? Tell us in the comments!