At the moment there are many names flying around for the role of the Green Lantern. People have mentioned Chris Pine and Matt Bomer, among a few others. However, there is only really one suggestion that I’m sure we can all agree with and that is Idris Elba as John Stewart Green Lantern.
1. Elba is one of the most accomplished actors in contemporary film and media today.
Idris Elba is a multi-award-winning actor whose presence is felt on-screen. He also looks the part.
2. Ryan Reynolds.
Nobody liked Reynolds’ portrayal of the Green Lantern. To erase the sins of the past, I feel DC has to abandon Hal Jordan and introduce John Stewart into the Justice League film. If the Justice League goes ahead with Hal Jordan, we will see a whitewash of a superhero team.
John Stewart is a veteran U.S. Marine. If you’ve recently seen Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim, you would have realised that he would do this role justice. Stacker Pentecost is by far the standout character.
Del Toro describes Idris as, “one of those actors that is capable of embodying humanity, in almost like a Rodin sculpture-type, larger than life, almost like a Russian realism statue, you know, big hands, all the turmoil of humanity in his eyes.”
Hal Jordan describes John Stewart as having a “chip on his shoulder bigger than the rock of Gibraltar.” One cannot help but feel that the Green Lantern role is somewhat made for Idris Elba.
3. Idris Elba is a real-life hero.
In 2009, the Prince’s Trust appointed him as the anti-crime ambassador. Idris credits this appointment with helping him to start his career in the big leagues.
4. We have not seen a superhero of African descent in quite a while.
We haven’t had a black superhero since Michael Jai White was Spawn and Wesley Snipes was Blade. Marvel looks as though they will be adding more colour to their ranks with Falcon, in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Johnny Storm being made African-American is on the cards too. It would be wise for DC to add a bit of colour into their team.
5. He has women weak at the knees.
If DC is worried about losing out on the market without Reynolds, they will get an even bigger return if they bank on Elba, as the actor was named as one of the Sexiest Men alive last year. He was even considered to be cast as the first black James Bond 007.
