Blake Lively Joins Ryan Reynolds in Green Lantern

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A greenlight and a lively star to opposite the already cast Ryan Reynolds (though I’m still digging the fan-made Fillion clip) means it’s been a good week for the Green Lantern movie. First, on Wednesday, visual effects supervisor Karen Goulekas told MTV that Green Lantern got the official word that it’s moving forward (there had been some transition about shooting location last year) and begins shooting in March. Second, THR has ended speculation on the leading lady, announcing that gossip girl and BSC-approved Blake Lively will be playing the role of Carol Ferris.

Carol Ferris, whose father’s aerospace company, plays a role in the origin of Hal Jordan’s ascension to Green Lantern. The character’s own origins go all the way back to the first appearance of Hal Jordan himself, as she appears in Showcase#22 (1959) the first appearance of the Silver Age Green Lantern (and a SUPER HOT back-issue lately) and is a romantic interest for the character. Lively possibly beat out other actresses being speculated for the role that included Eva Green, Jennifer Garner, Keri Russell and Diane Kruger. You can’t really go wrong with any of those lovely ladies, and I’m not all put off by the casting of Lively who is really getting to that point where you’d expect at least experimentation on the big screen, and Green Lantern is going to be a reasonable big project (as opposed to a random romantic comedy). I’m certainly aware of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and New York, I Love You, but Green Lantern certainly presents something altogether different. She is one of the stars of CW’s hit show Gossip Girl, and is also set to appear in Ben Affleck’s The Town, starring with him in a cast that also includes on Hamm, Rebecca Hall and Jeremy Renner. I’ve said this before, but it’s arguable that Green Lantern has been the best superhero title over the last couple of years, with Brubaker’s Captain America giving it a run.

It’s also worth mentioning that in the comics Ferris eventually becomes Star Sapphire, a powerful (super) character in her own right, and I wonder if that aspect will play into this first film or potential sequels. Earlier in the year, it was rumored that Watchmen and Friday the 13th actor, Jackie Earle Haley, was in line to play the role of Green Lantern arch-nemesis Sinestro, a notion that was revealed to be – at the very least – premature by Haley himself later on. Definitely will be interested in who director Martin Campbell grabs for that pivotal role, as we inch closer to the June 17, 2011 release date.