Exclusive: Green Lantern's Suit Will Be CG

By Peter ScirettaApril 11, 2010 8:22 pm EST

Everyone is curious to see what Ryan Reynolds will look like in costume in the big screen adaptation of DC Comics' Green Lantern. Production started earlier this month in New Orleans, and while the first set photos have begun to hit the web — don't expect to see Reynolds in the green suit. Not today, not next week, not next month, not ever. So don't expect to see any leaked shots of Reynolds in the actual suit until Warner Bros makes the official full reveal.

Why not?

Well, because there isn't a suit.

No suit?

That's right. No suit. When I was first told this info, I didn't believe it. I actually didn't even consider it as a real possibility. But the information I'm about to reveal has since been backed up by two other independent sources. I stand by this information 150% — this is legit. I risk my reputation on it. Ready for it? Okay...

The suit that Ryan wears on set is a grey tracking motion/performance capture suit with led lights. I've heard that Ryan Reynolds has been joking on set that Warner Bros is going to make him into a Na'vi when the final cut is released. His joke, not mine. The Green Lantern suit you will see in the final film will be almost entirely created using computers.

That's right — Green Lantern's suit will be mostly CG!

Wait, stop...

I said STOP. Comic book fanatics should not freak out just yet...

My source within Warner Bros assures me that the suit will look cool. Don't let the words "Computer generated" scare you.

I must first remind you that Ngila Dickson, the costumer designer on the film has won an Academy Award for a little film called The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Maybe you've seen it before? Don't let her Xena: Warrior Princess roots scare you, she worked on the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Last Samurai (another film which earned her an Oscar nomination), The Illusionist, Blood Diamond and The International. She has an impressive IMDB page, for sure.

Ngila was tasked with trying to find a way to do something that stands apart from all of the other superheroes spandex suit designs we've seen in the past. Honestly, isn't the look becoming overused?

Remember, the Green Lantern suit is something that should look alien — it needs to seem other worldly. It encompasses any creature that wears the ring, and Hal Jordan is the first human to ever wear the suit. This was a chance for Dickson to do something different. You also have to consider that Hal changes into the suit multiple times in mid scene, and the cg also allows him to do this.

I've heard that when the cg is complete, the suit will look like a manifestation of his power. And while I couldn't confirm this, I've heard that DC's Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns has seen the designs and given them his blessing.

The suit is lined with white LEDs, which I initially thought might be used to give a practical glow (kind of like how Billy Crudup wore blue LEDs to give the actors around Dr. Manhattan a blue glow in Watchmen), but I've since been told might just be for mo-cap tracking purposes.

Here is some other information I've learned about the production:

That leaked set photo of the silver ship is indeed Abin Sur's crashed spaceship

Temura Morrison looks legit as Abin Sur, although his head isn't as elongated as in the concept art photos leaked awhile back.

Peter Sarsgaard's makeup tests with the enlarged head look cool. He has wild hair, kind of like Jason Lee in "My Name is Earl" and, of course, the kind of traditional Hector Hammond stache.

I'm told that Reynolds is awesome in the role. He's knocking it out of the park so far.

The screenplay that leaked online is a very old draft. I've been told that the villains have changed a bit and that the rewritten script is supposedly way better in the end.