Common reads for Green Lantern & news on The Flash

Posted by Matt Holmes. Last modified on October 13th, 2007 at 08:41am

Common reads for Green Lantern & news on The Flash

For the first time in a long while, it’s been one full week since we last spoke about the Justice League of America movie at length and strangely it’s the role of the Green Lantern which is getting all of the coverage once again.

IESB have heard that another hip-hop star turned actor has auditioned for the part of The Green Lantern in the JLA movie. His name is Common, that actor who can do a great brooding look but we haven’t seen him do anything on this level before.

The site have heard that Common is now the front runner for the role but although I thought he was amazing for a debut role in Smokin’ Aces, he’s not the right man for the job. He’s cool as a supporting actor in gangster movies and cop flicks (he’s in American Gangster and The Night Watchmen soon) where he can just look cool without saying anything, but not as a superhero.

So out of the three names we have heard so far… T.I., Tyrese Gibson and Common, it’s gotta be Gibson for me.

IESB have some news on The Flash, a role that has pretty much only ever been linked with Ryan Reynolds.

The site claim that there are two young actors WB are desperate to audition for the Barry Allen version of The Flash, both of whom have a history of the romance/comedy movie. The two names are Adam Brody (The O.C.) and Justin Long (Live Free or Die Hard).

Now I like both of these guys quite a bit but as The Flash? No way, he needs to be older and less ‘geekish’ and ‘boyish’.

None of the names that have been rumored for this film have done anything to excite us yet. I think they are casting way too young on this one and should be looking for people in their 30’s but the studio’s greed for money and the need for the potential long running franchise, means they are going extremely young with this to milk these actors for as long as they possibly can.

Alot of people believe around the web that casting is complete on this and they will reveal all the actors in one large scope in November, maybe as too not prolong the agony of one casting disappointment after the next.

In the mean time, stay tuned to our Movie Tracker page on the Justice League movie, the most up to date resource on the film on the web!

Categories: Justice League, Movie News

5 Comments »

Oh, God! When will this casting rappers crap stop? I never thought I would ever say this, but if I have to choose which of these three crappy hacks sho9uld be in a movie I might as well go with the lesser of three evils and say Tyrese. Not that he’s any good, but TI and Common are complete crap! Why not cast 50-Cent and be done with it?

The ONLY rappers who have proven themselves to have ANY acting chops are LL Cool J, (he was pretty good in Edison Force) and Will Smith and Ludacris, if you consider his performance in Crash to be an extension of one of his videos.

Other than that NONE of them has been able to do anything mroe than get in front of the camera and fumble their way through their lines. Studios are so damned market-obsessed that they see a movie with a rapper as being more “marketable,” without considering that the rapper in question might be the worst damned thing about the movie. This is a part that requires an actor, not a walking publicity stunt, wihch is all that TI or Common owuld be.

And BTW, has anyone ever heard Common say his dialogue? Me neither, mostly he just mumbles and grunts his way through a scene. When I saw Smokin’ Aces I had to turn on the subtitles whenever he spoke. Fortunately he didn’t talk much!

Comment by JaySmack | October 13, 2007

Okay, I’ve never taken the time to write in one of these forums; it’s just never been my practice. After reading this little bit of news, I’m just irritated enough to feel the need to say something. First, I agree whole-heartedly with JaySmack. The casting of this production is more and more offensive to me with every report that comes down from Hollywood. Excuse me for pulling a “race card”, but if you’ll give me a few lines I’ll try to justify my claim.

Since when did “young black actor” begin to translate as “rapper”? It’s not just the casting in this film, but in others as well. There seems to this pervasive misconception that rappers are equipped at the art of acting, based on the merit of what? Why are we even discussing T.I. for ANY movie role? Has he been trainned for film, or for acting all together? So what if he did ATL? Was that enough to warrant him a spot working with three of the industry’s top ranked talents (Denzel, Crowe, Scott) for American Gangster? Or did we cast T.I. in the aforementioned movie because,surprise surprise, he used to BE something of an American gangster?

Common isn’t as terrible as Tyrese. At least he got his feet wet in Smokin Aces, and didn’t jump ass first into the world of acting, ala Baby Boy with Tyrese. Maybe it’s just me, but they might as well have given Tyrese a busted-up top hat, white gloves and made him sing ‘Mammie’; it was a totally stereotypical African American role that tap danced on the line of offensive: “AYO, I ain’t neva seen no shit like dis, dawg!” Common, while a rapper, seems to be a better choice of the three, if not for physical appearance, than for the way he seems to actually care about acting.

Which brings me to my point: I auditioned for this project back in September, and have been watching this site and others for the insider updates. I verified through this site that the sides to an “Ultra top secret WB superhero film” I had been given were in fact those for Justice League. With my argument above, let me first say that I’m not lobbying for anything; just here to make a point. On my breakdown, it read that WB was looking for a fresh faced cast, with theater and improv experience, and those who worked well in an ensemble. Why on God’s green earth would you waste everyone’s time by casting in Vancouver, Toronto, New York, Atlanta, LA, and Australia looking for “fresh faced” talent, when you’re just going to offer the roles to the likes of Jessica Biehl, T.I., Adam Brody, and Tyrese?

Believe you me, I’m level headed enough to know that a regular joe schmo actor like myself had no chance of being considered for something like this. But, could no other true African American [ACTOR] in Canada, Australia and the U.S. handle this role? I read on another breakdown that for the Lantern they were looking for a “young, hip, African American that could reach the urban demographic such as Common or Tyrese Gibson.” That was on a breakdown, and look who they ended up talking to. I’m offended that I was asked to audition when they’d rather turn around and hire some hack because everyone’s heard of them. I’d be much more inclined to forget this debacle if they’d put someone I’d never heard of in the role, thereby giving some golden ticket winner a break. And as far as ‘urban demographic’ goes, if you want more ‘urban’ folks in the seats, start creating some characters that we can relate to. You got a movie full of caucasion superheros and you think Tyrese is enough to get my entire community in the theaters?

Forget casting for the demographic. For all that is holy: Cast for the greater good of the fucking movie.

Comment by DirtyLungs | October 13, 2007

Another day, another story about this abortion of a film.

Other people have touched on Common and what seems to be a fixation on making sure a rapper plays Green Lantern, so let’s just skip ahead here:

JUSTIN LONG OR ADAM BRODY FOR FLASH?!! WTF?!!

Wow… this tells me the character is being written as a young, dorky guy. Doesn’t sound ANYTHING like the character in the comic, by any stretch. Certainly not the Barry Allen or Wally West anyone grew up reading. What a joke. This thing is like a 15 car pileup. You just can’t pull your eyes away from it.

Comment by Scramble Network | October 14, 2007

well first off they can’t cast common. Oh wauit they can and they will cast a common like actor. If they are they might as well go for Mos Def, and at least give the lantern a grungier look and besides he was great in Monsters Ball. Funny thought, imagine Ol dirty Bastard is still aive and they casy him. As for why they would cast a rapper, your all right. THEY HAVE TO SELL TICKETS. If you put in a “rapper” you fill seats, as well as selll the soundtrack, cause you know he’s gonna rap for the cd too.

Comment by Noodle | October 15, 2007

T.I just got of jail on bail. Given how badly Miller and company are screwing up the casting it probably won’t be long before the announcement is made that T.I. will be Green Lantern.

The scary part is they’ve made so many dumbass decisions with this flick, they probably might go ahead and give that fool the part.

Comment by JaySmack | October 27, 2007