Next year will be superhero movie heaven for fans of the genre with “Thor,” “Captain America: The First Avenger” and “Green Lantern” all swooping into theaters next spring or summer. But with three big budget franchise films all gunning for the same audience within a few months of each other, we figure at least one of them will underperform, and if we were betting men, we’d put our money on “Green Lantern.” The first trailer for the film was shockingly dull with some questionable CGI and overall tone that we couldn’t quite get with. And, for this writer who is not totally familiar with the Green Lantern, it seems that the entire universe is a bit absurd even for a comic. Enter Tomar-Re.
The Daily Blam has revealed the first look at Tomar-Re (he’s glimpsed briefly in the trailer), taken from the latest issue of “Green Lantern” and uh, yeah, it’s still not convincing this writer that the film won’t be a jumble of alien world weirdness. Here’s The Daily Blam’s concise summary of the character: “Growing up on the planet Xudar, Tomar-Re comes from a peaceful avian race that focuses their efforts on the arts and sciences instead of war. His nature to examine everything has led the Guardians of the Universe to appoint him the archivist and protector of the sacred Book of Oa. When not studying the nature of the Corps, Tomar-Re patrols the sector of 2813 where he developed a close friendship with neighboring sector 2814’s Green Lantern, Abin Sur. Tomar has taken an interest in Abin’s replacement, Hal Jordan. Though Hal is not one for details, Tomar hopes to teach Hal what it means to be a Green Lantern.”
Book of Oa? 2813? 2814? Abin Sur? Sheesh. If Warner Bros. should be worried about anything, it’s trying to make mainstream audiences care and want to invest in the otherworld backstory that seems likely to play a pretty big part of film. That said, there is still plenty of run up time for the studio to keep tweaking the marketing and we’re only at the start in what is sure to be an avalanche of advertising. “Green Lantern” opens on June 17, 2011.
