Does Man Of Steel Wipe Ryan Reynolds' Green Lantern Out Of Existence?

Ever since news of the Man Of Steel movie first emerged, fans and the media have repeatedly been [...]

Justice League movie Ryan Reynolds

Ever since news of the Man Of Steel movie first emerged, fans and the media have repeatedly been asking one big question. Does Christopher Nolan's version of Batman exist in the Man Of Steel universe? While the inclusion of the Wayne Enterprises logo in Man Of Steel initially gave fans hope of  seeing Christian Bale's Dark Knight side by side with Henry Cavill's Man Of Steel, it seems that will not be the case. Man Of Steel producer Charles Roven went on record saying that the Chris Nolan universe ended with The Dark Knight trilogy. Man Of Steel director Zack Snyder, Man Of Steel writer David S. Goyer, and even Christopher Nolan himself have also made statements that seem to indicate that Christopher Nolan's version of Batman will have no part in the Man Of Steel universe. However, there is another question which has been largely ignored by the media, which is the question that is posed in the headline of this article. What does the Man Of Steel mean for Martin Campbell's version of Green Lantern? (FYI, Martin Campbell was the director of Green Lantern.) Will we ever see Ryan Reynolds' Green Lantern side by side with Henry Cavill's Man Of Steel? If anything, Man Of Steel seems to even more definitively wipe out the existence of Ryan Reynolds' Green Lantern than it does Christian Bale's Batman. The fact that Batman doesn't show up when Zod attacks Metropolis could always be explained away by the fact that Bruce Wayne retired at the end of the Dark Knight Rises. Plus, if Bruce Wayne were out of the country, it would seem logical that he might not even have time to travel to Metropolis, given the suddenness of Zod's attack. However, there is very little that could explain why Green Lantern wouldn't show up to help fight off the alien invasion. If Green Lantern existed in the Man Of Steel universe, then he definitely should have been there helping Superman fight Zod. Technically, we suppose that maybe it could be said Green Lantern was off planet, but there's another important issue. The very existence of Green Lantern would negate the central premise of Man Of Steel being a first contact story. The military and the rest of the world wouldn't be reacting to Superman the way that they did if there was already a Green Lantern on Earth. Also, both director Zack Snyder and writer David S. Goyer have made repeated statements, which seem to conclusively indicate that Superman is the first superhero to emerge in the Man Of Steel universe. Now, the one work around might be that the events of Green Lantern took place after Man Of Steel, but then the question would be why Superman didn't show up to help out in the Green Lantern movie. It certainly looks like the Man Of Steel means Ryan Reynolds' Green Lantern is definitely done. With Warner Bros. now focused on building a connected universe, it's very doubtful that they would want to continue a Green Lantern story set in its own universe. Odd are fans will be seeing a completely new  Green Lantern when a Justice League movie eventually rolls around.

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