Mark Strong Thinks Ryan Reynolds' 'Green Lantern' Movie Was Part of the DCEU

Mark Strong is poised to bring Dr. Thaddius Sivana to life in Shazam!, but it sounds like he doesn't consider it to be his first DC Extended Universe role.

During a visit to Shazam!'s set, Mark Strong spoke a bit about his role as Sivana, and how it contrasts to playing Sinestro in 2011's Green Lantern. As Strong put it, he considers the Ryan Reynolds-led film to be an entry in the DCEU -- despite being released several years before Man of Steel.

"It is part of the DCEU, but my version of Sinestro, I think, is going to be rebooted, as they say, no doubt, when the new Green Lantern comes out, which I think they're doing," Strong said. "As I've said, and I mean it, I felt really ... There was a little interruptus, because Sinestro was going to go into the second movie and become Yellow Sinestro that we know and love, and cause havoc. It got cut short by the fact that they never made a second movie of that particular incarnation of Green Lantern and Sinestro. Thankfully, I've now got a chance to maybe exercise my evil credentials with Dr. Sivana."

For some DC fans, this will surely be a surprise, as Green Lantern is often regarded to be one of the most-panned comic book movies in recent history. Granted, it is kinda easy to see why Strong would have that interpretation, seeing as the DCEU's reboot, Green Lantern Corps, hasn't gotten out of the early stages in recent years.

"You look at everything that worked and didn't work, on anything," Geoff Johns, who is penning the most recent version of the Green Lantern Corps script, explained last year. "Like revamping a character, reintroducing a character, I've done it a lot. The creative kind of viewpoint and way into the character and rebooting and changing it and reintroducing it, is informed by everything. It's informed by comics and both what works and what doesn't work. I don't wanna spoil any of the story there, but if people liked my run on Green Lantern, then hopefully they'll like what I'm doing."

"And right now, look, I'm just writing a script, and hopefully this script gets into a place where Warner Bros., and DC, Walter and everybody — [once] they're really excited about it, when we get that right, then we'll move ahead on the project," Johns added. "But we gotta get it right."

Aquaman is in theaters now. Upcoming DC films include Shazam on April 5, 2019, Joker on October 10, 2019, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) on February 7, 2020, Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5, 2020, The Batman on June 25, 2021, and The Suicide Squad on August 6, 2021.