The DCU is set to reboot Green Lantern’s cinematic career, and a great piece of fan art is everything I want to see from it. Many faces hold the Green Lantern mantle as they comprise the Green Lantern Corps, which the DCU appears to be adapting into its upcoming show, Lanterns. 2025’s Superman movie, meanwhile, will debut one of the top-ranking members of the corps, the canonically controversial Guy Gardner, who will be played by Nathan Fillion.
This will be the first time that a Green Lantern has appeared in a DC movie since the critically panned debut of Ryan Reynolds’ Hal Jordan in 2011’s Green Lantern. Hal Jordan is set to star alongside John Stewart in the DCU Lanterns show, though casting decisions for the show are yet to emerge. In the meantime, fans will be giving their two cents on which actors would make a good Green Lantern. Thanks to one incredible piece of fan art created six years ago, my mind has now been made up on who would be best suited to the role.
Boss Logic Created This Incredible Green Lantern Art In 2018
Artist Boss Logic created a version of Hal Jordan posted to Facebook that shows what the hero would look like if portrayed by Tom Cruise. The image shows Cruise in the iconic Green Lantern Corps suit with completely white eyes as he uses his power ring. His suit looks particularly sleek, with a green mist emanating from the Lantern Corps symbol on his chest. In the background is a still of Tom Cruise’s Maverick descending from a plane’s cockpit in Top Gun.
Cruise is also a top pick for a Tony Stark variant in the MCU.
The post reads “We all know #topgun is a Hal Jordan origin story,” drawing a parallel between Cruise’s Maverick in Top Gun and Hal Jordan. Yet the art garnered some mixed reactions, with some comments questioning Cruise’s acting ability, and signifying that the actor would be too old to portray the comparatively youthful Hal Jordan. Other comments, meanwhile, agree that this would be a particularly perfect casting for Hal Jordan – which is something I’d have to agree with.
I’m Even More Convinced Now That Tom Cruise Should Be Hal Jordan
The similarities between Hal Jordan and Maverick are stark, with both being cocky, courageous, and headstrong Air Force pilots. With that in mind, it is fair to say that Tom Cruise would have made a fantastic live-action Hal Jordan given his track record of embodying a hugely similar role. Moreover, Cruise is a dyed-in-the-wool action star who could easily pull off the physicality necessary for portraying the Justice League founder.
Cruise is already a rumored frontrunner for the role of Hal Jordan following a recent deal he made with Warner Bros.
The DCU is poised to flip the script on the typical DC movie tropes. The fact that it will debut a litany of more obscure DC characters like The Authority – a team that formed in a different universe in DC Comics – suggests that it will be forging ahead with fresh stories. Hal Jordan is possibly the most popular Green Lantern, but he could feasibly be portrayed by an older actor after several years of being an established hero, making this casting all the more potentially viable.
The DC Universe is one of the biggest comic book franchises and often competes with Marvel. DC Comics started as National Allied Publications, founded by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson in 1935. Since then, the franchise has exploded with thousands of comic books, movies, TV shows, and video games. 2013 marked the beginning of the most recent iteration of the superheroes, with Zack Snyder introducing Henry Cavill as Superman. After several movies with mixed reviews, DC underwent a soft reboot under the helm of James Gunn and Peter Safran.
Upcoming DC Movies
Release Date
Joker: Folie à Deux
October 4, 2024
Superman
July 11, 2025
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
June 26, 2026
The Batman – Part II
October 2, 2026
