The Green Lantern Costume Will Be Entirely CG in the Movie

Source: SlashFilm
by Alex Billington

This is probably the most interesting and soon-to-be the most controversial news you'll hear all month (I'm sure someone will be pissed by this). SlashFilm is reporting that they've confirmed with multiple sources that a rumor about the Green Lantern costume being entirely CGI in the movie is true. Apparently Ryan Reynolds has been wearing a grey motion capture site with white LED lights, similar to how Dr. Manhattan looked on set during Watchmen. Before everyone goes crazy and boycotts the entire movie, apparently the reason for doing this (without actually seeing any finished photos to prove it) is actually pretty damn good.

The story is that costume designer Ngila Dickson (The Last Samurai, Lord of the Rings, Blood Diamond) was challenged with finding a way to create a costume that "stands apart from all of the other superheroes spandex suit designs we’ve seen in the past." And considering that the Green Lantern outfit comes from the alien ring (given to him by Abin Sur), it needs to look "other worldly." It was Ngila's chance to do something different and also allow Hal Jordan to "change into the suit multiple times in mid-scene" which just sounds pretty damn cool if they'll be able to pull that off smoothly with CGI. So far, so good, no reason to complain.

So if we won't see Reynolds wearing spandex on set, the next big question is how will the design look in its finished form on the big screen. Peter from SlashFilm is a bit vague on that, too: "I've heard that when the CG is complete, the suit will look like a manifestation of his power." Will it glow or will it look differently in different situations (again, similar to how Dr. Manhattan controlled his brightness)? We don't know the answers to these questions yet, but the good news is that apparently DC's Geoff Johns (the same guy) has seen the designs and given them his blessings. Doesn't seem like there is anything to be concerned about.

Green Lantern has been filming down in Louisiana for the past few weeks and I've heard nothing but great things so far. I'm not concerned about a CGI costume, in fact, I'm intrigued to see what it will look like. I think this will open up many possibilities for costuming that would've been impossible to pull off practically, since this is a super-powered ring that can manifest anything after all.