September 2010 ~ The Blog of OA

9/30/10

So What Villian is Robert Englund Voicing for the GL Animated Series?

9/30/2010

Robert Englund

Hot on the heels of the New York Comic Con animated series panel announcement, actor Robert Englund let slip today on Twitter that he had just done some voice work for the show. Englund, infamous for his potrayal of horror movie monster Freddie Kreuger, tweeted, "Just finished voicing a villain for the new GREEN LANTERN series. Worked with my buddy, Spiderman Josh Keaton." Keaton has numerous voiceover credits to his name, joining Neil Patrick Harris as the only person to have voice both Spiderman and the Flash.

With the debut of the animated show over a year away it seems somewhat premature that actors would be recording voices for the show, but it could be that work has begun early so that promotional footage can be assembled for marketing and promotional events like the upcoming Comic Con panel. Or it could be that Englund is confused and did voice work for the Green Lantern: Emerald Knights direct-to-video release that comes out next summer.

A member of the Spider Guild

The Daily Blam contacted Mr. Englund, who elaborated that he voiced the character of Myglom, a member of the Spider Guild. The Spider Guild has a long history with the Green Lantern Corps in clashes resulting from the Guild's expansion across the galaxy.

It is promising to me that Warner Brothers is digging into the rich history of the Corps to give more presence to the diversity of adversaries for Green Lantern. In the eyes of the general public it's long been a case of Sinestro or nothing, so I look forward to seeing the likes of some of the more interesting antagonists as Warner Brothers starts mining the archives.

9/30/2010

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One year ago, before filming on Green Lantern had begun, the movie was planned to be filmed in Austrailia. But, with a booming economy and a strong dollar, Warner Brothers found that the impact on the budget of the film, hindered by the lack of a locked in discount, meant moving filming to another location. Rumors abounded about Mexico, however, as history has shown, the movie was shot in Louisiana.

The Australian cinematic publication Inside Film reports today that at least some of revenue lost when the deal fell through is returning to the land down under by way of the massive amounts of CG work needed during the film's post production. Rising Sun Pictures ended up closing one of their offices in Sydney due to loss of an expected influx of work, however they are now adding Green Lantern to their work load in addition to doing CG work for the second half of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows films.

Green Lantern Animated Series Panel at NYCC

9/29/2010

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Warner Brothers issued a press release today highlighting their prescence at the October 8-10 2010 New York Comic Con. Among the various shows getting some panel time is the upcoming Cartoon Network Green Lantern animated series. Executive Producer Bruce Timm will be at the convention talking about the show which is set to premiere in November of 2011.

Here's Warner's description of the panel and signing that takes place on Saturday, the 9th:

* 2:30–3:30 p.m. Green Lantern: The Animated Series Presentation/Q&A — Saturday will be NYCC’s “brightest day” as Warner Bros. Animation proudly unveils this new series coming soon to Cartoon Network and based upon characters from DC Comics. Join series executive producer Bruce Timm (Batman: The Animated Series), producer Giancarlo Volpe (Star Wars: The Clone Wars) and producer/story editor Jim Krieg (Ben 10: Alien Swarm) as these creative forces reveal their plans for one of the most highly anticipated new animated series. Room 1A14

* 4:00–5:00 p.m. Green Lantern: The Animated Series Signing at the DC Comics Booth #2243

Reynolds Continues to Field Green Lantern Questions While Promoting "Buried"

9/26/2010

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With every interview and press junket that Ryan Reynolds does to promote his new film, "Buried", come more questions being directed his way about Green Lantern. We can only hope that he doesn't get tired of the seemingly endless attention being given the upcoming movie before the actual promotion for the film starts.

In talking about the character of Hal Jordan, Reynolds said, "He's a character whose superpowers, will and imagination is almost limitless. With most superheroes there is a limit to what they can do, but with the Green Lantern there really isn't, and I think above all the scope is what's going to separate it from the herd, if-you-will. It's so huge. I play the Green Lantern, but I might be the tiniest cog in that machine."

The Canadian actor certainly seems humble about how much of this film is riding on shoulders and how important he is to the pending success of this entire new tentpole franchise for Warner Brothers and DC Entertainment. He is, however, quick to heap praise on both director Martin Campbell and co-star Mark Strong.

9/26/2010

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Greg Berlanti

Screenwriter Greg Berlanti has been very busy of late, with his new superhero ABC-TV show, "No Ordinary Family" set to debut in September, and work continuing on his treatments for a Flash feature film and a sequel to next year's Green Lantern movie. During recent interviews Berlanti has had a lot to say about his work on Green Lantern, comparing the DC Comics cosmic mythology to a cross between "Star Wars" and "Top Gun" in terms of its scope.

In today's LA Times, Berlanti is interviewed by Gina McIntyre in a conversation covering both DC Comics properties:

9/26/2010

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The "Revolt of the Alpha-Lanterns" reaches its conclusion in this week's Green Lantern Corp #52. This issue has a lot of action packed into its pages, including Cyborg Superman's possible fate and how the Guardians of the Universe are going to deal with what may be their biggest failure since the Manhunter fiasco.

The Story -

Boodikka lay dying on Grenda as a result of Hannu's assault in issue 51, but in her seemingly final moments she surrenders the energy needed to recharge the rings of her fellow lanterns. Soranik Natu and John Stewart attempt to hole Boodikka together as the scene shifts to Cyborg Superman and Ganthet, working to remove the Alpha Lantern from Horoq Nnot.

Sinestro, Kilowog and Abin Sur Appear in Emerald Knights

9/24/2010

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This week DC Animated icons Bruce Timm and Lauren Montgomery appeared at the world premiere of "Superman/Batman: Apocalypse" at the Paley Center in Los Angeles. Following the screening of the film both Timm and Montgomery participated in a Q & A session where they discussed some of the upcoming projects for DC's direct to video productions, and among the films discussed was "Green Lantern: Emerald Knights".

Timm went on to state that the upcoming movie would be an anthology as he had previously, being similar in concept to the "Batman: Gotham Knight" DVD previously released. While that's not news, what Timm did reveal was that "Emerald Knights" would feature 5-6 mini stories tied together by an overarching plot and that Sinestro, Abin Sur, and Kilowog would each get spotlighted, with Kilowog's story focusing on his early days as a Green Lantern. Lauren Montgomery, who directed "Emerald Knights" indicated that some lesser known Lanterns would also get some screen time.

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors 2 Review

9/19/2010

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Bleez, release me, let me go!

The second chapter of Peter Tomasi's Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors reveals the identity of our new antagonist while getting inside the psyches of the three main Green Lanterns starring in the title. Sprinkle in some Blue and Red Lanterns and we have a great sophomore issue.

The Story -

Like the first issue the second one starts with Guy Gardner contemplating his future, this time he wonders how history will judge him for what he's about to do as he gets ready to depart for the unknown sectors. It's a nice touch with Gardner gazing into giant constructs of the four Green Lanterns from Earth while Tomasi reveals what's going on inside Guy's red headed cranium. It again illustrates how far Guy has come from those days when there didn't seem to be anything happening there, and I like that he's maturing without losing what makes him unique in his brashness and ego.

9/19/2010

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If you're lucky enough to live in part of the country where you can find Hostess snack cake products, keep your eye out for two new Hostess items hitting store shelves this fall - Flash Cakes and Green Lantern Glo Balls. Hostess is also running a sweepstakes on their website where you can win prizes like DC Universe animated movies and the grand prize, you likeness on a Justice League comic book cover.

And if you are able to get these and have a generous spirit, have pity on a poor Green Lantern fan living in a Little Debbie snack cake monopolized area like myself and pick me up a box or two - I'll pay for them and the shipping!

9/19/2010

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Ryan Reynolds has been getting a lot of face time in recent days as he makes the rounds promoting his new white-knuckled drama, Buried. During many of these interviews Reynolds has been asked about Green Lantern since the film is getting a high profile push from Warner Brothers. Reynolds can be found on the cover of this month's GQ magazine as well and making the rounds on interview shows.

One of the interesting things Reynolds commented on was his marriage to Scarlett Johansson and the efforts they jointly take to make sure that their relationship doesn't become gossip fodder, a welcome move in a day and age where everyone seems so willing to do anything to get a reality show or another fifteen minutes of fame. While not Green Lantern related, I think it deserves mentioning since I think it speaks a lot to the character of Reynolds, an actor who I continue to have a lot of respect for.

9/19/2010

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Like most actors in Hollywood, interviews about your new film tend to be sprinkled about your next movie, especially when that next movie is a big Hollywood blockbuster like Green Lantern is expected to be. So while on the press tour for her new film The Town, the subject of playing Carol Ferris has continued to creep into many interviews for Blake Lively.

Lively seems to be genuinely interested in the Green Lantern franchise despite not having a great deal of familiarity with the mythos, but she is particularly drawn to the strength and independence of Carol Ferris and she is very aware of the potential for a Star Sapphire turn as she indicates in this interview for MTV:

9/19/2010

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Ho ho...oh no!

For months Geoff Johns has teased throughout his appearances at comic conventions that he had plans to write a Christmas special starting Larfleeze, the Orange Lantern whose avarice knows no bounds. The DC Source blog recently confirmed that the special will indeed see the light of day complete with a cover by artist Gene Ha.

The seeds of the story were planted in a recent issue of the main Green Lantern title where Hal Jordan encounters Larfleeze in Minnesota where the orange one was found writing a huge list for Santa. This story picks on those events and as Johns has indicated in the past, Larfleeze is not happy when Hal Jordan tries to explain the concept of Santa to him leading Larfleeze on a quest to find Old Saint Nick.

The Source blog also announced that Green Lantern will be joined by Plastic Man in a story of aliens bent on using Earth weapons to fuel the fires of an interstellar war in a story penned by long time fan favorite writer Marv Wolfman. "Green Lantern / Plastic Man: Weapons of Mass Deception" is scheduled to hit the stand in December with art by Astro City artist Brent Anderson.

The cover of "Mass Deception"

9/19/2010

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Promotional Image by Six Flags

Green Lantern is set to join Superman and Batman as DC heroes with their own roller coasters named after them. The Six Flags Great Adventure theme park in New Jersey recently announced their plans to create a Green Lantern themed roller coaster sure to test the willpower of any thrill ride aficionado.

Six Flags put the following information on their website, complete with a simulation of what riders can expect next year when the ride debuts:

Green Lantern 57 Review

9/12/2010

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Issue 57 of Green Lantern came out this week and like Hector Hammond taking center stage last month, this issue gives readers a heavy dose of Carol Ferris, a character who, in my opinion, has been far under utilized for years and in need of some attention. She does get it here as we see more of why she really is Hal Jordan's true love and what her future may hold.

First off, if you've been following the mystery of the Ryan Sook White Lantern variant covers that's been appearing for the last month or so, you'll find his Deadman White Lantern cover fits at the base of the overall image. Above Deadman's hands you'll notice that White Lantern being gripped by the as yet unrevealed new antagonist.

More Details on the GL Movie Uniform Emerge

9/08/2010

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Pietro Filipponi, former writer and lead scooper on all things from the Green Lantern movie, recently kicked on his own site, "The Daily Blam!" and yesterday revealed more information on the much lamented uniform. As many of us had figured, the movie costume that we saw revealed on the cover of "Entertainment Weekly" was not the finished version of what we'll see in the movie next June.

The finished uniform will reportedly feature more contrast between the black and green sections, with the textured lines being visual conduits for the emerald energy as Hal learns to master it. Pietro goes on to mention many other aspects of the costume, ring and battery which you can check out along with a fan rendering based on the description in Pietro's article, or click the "Read More" for a copy and paste from directly from the original article. If Pierto's information is true, and I have no reason no to question him, anyone who has any lingering doubts should take a deep breath and wait until we all see the trailer before "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows".

"Ring Capacity" Charges Up Rock Band

9/07/2010

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It's no secret to anyone who's been reading this blog that I'm a huge fan of Kirby Krackle and their high energy nerd inspired music. The Blog of Oa was one of the first sites on the Internet to review their second CD, "E for Everyone", which contains the song "Ring Capacity" - quite frankly the best Green Lantern inspired song in history. So well loved has this song become to Green Lantern fans that there is a Facebook page devoted to trying to get the song added to the soundtrack for the upcoming live action film.

"Ring Capacity" gains another level of notoriety for being imortalized in the video game Rockband through the games Rockband Network, a system where any band can author their music in the format the game needs in order to be playable, submit it to the game's publisher and earn some money by marketing their songs to the masses in a interactive way to enjoy music. The ode to Green Lantern has been in testing for some time now and became available today after clearing the testing process. So if you have the game, boot it up and go online and buy it today from either Xbox Live, the Playstation Network, or the Nintendo Wiii. It'll cost you less than a buck - even Hal Jordan doesn't have enough will power to turn that down!