The Marvel Actor Who Almost Played Hal Jordan On Lanterns Before Kyle Chandler

HBO’s “Lanterns” is well on its way to becoming one of the best live-action DC Comics TV shows, mainly because of the dynamic between seasoned hero Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and rookie Lantern John Stewart (Aaron Pierre). While it’s now hard to imagine anyone else in the role, Marvel actor Josh Brolin was offered the part of Hal Jordan before Chandler — yes, Thanos himself nearly played one of the most iconic DC Comics characters.

In 2024, Brolin spoke to ComicBook about turning down the chance to wear a Green Lantern Corps ring, heaping praise on the actor who was ultimately cast as Hal Jordan in his place. He said: “You know what? Green Lantern didn’t work out, but that’s okay. It’s working out. Who is it going to be, Kyle Chandler? I love him as an actor, I think he’s wonderful, actually. And, you know, we’ll see what’s down the line, man.”

Brolin has played plenty of gruff characters, especially in recent years: Time-traveling mutant soldier Cable in “Deadpool 2,” CIA officer Matt Graver in the “Sicario” movies, and House Atreides weapons master Gurney Halleck from the “Dune” franchise all have things in common with the “Lanterns” version of Hal Jordan, so it’s easy to see why Brolin was sought for the role. Let’s hope that DC Universe supremoes James Gunn and Peter Safran keep him in mind for future projects.

Had he agreed to play Hal Jordan, “Lanterns” would have been the second time that Josh Brolin portrayed a gritty DC character: He starred as the titular gunslinger in the 2010 “Jonah Hex” movie with Megan Fox, John Malkovich, and Michael Fassbender. The Western action flick follows Hex as he leaves his life as a confederate soldier behind after refusing to burn a hospital down. He becomes a bounty hunter and tracks his sadistic former boss, who killed his family and left him with severe facial injuries.

While it boasted a solid cast, “Jonah Hex” failed to ignite the box office — it made less than $11 million from a budget of $47 million and was considered a major bomb. It also missed the mark with critics, earning a measly 11% Rotten Tomatoes score, and the audience score wasn’t much better at just 20%. Brolin himself was hugely disappointed with how the adaptation turned out, blaming a combination of an inexperienced director in Jimmy Hayward and studio interference.

Speaking to Variety in 2023, Brolin explained that Warner Bros. gave him just two weeks to decide on a director. “I loved that [Hayward] was excited, but he just didn’t have the experience and he didn’t treat it like I would imagine somebody would want to treat it — to run back to their house at the end of their every day and watch tonal inspirations and Scorsese movies or this or that. He would be out partying instead,” Brolin recalled. “And then the studio took it over and every time that’s happened, in my experience, it has only gotten worse.”