Warner Bros. Hires 'Harry Potter' Scribe to Pen 'Green Lantern' Sequel

If there's any project in the vast stable of DC Comics properties controlled by Warner Bros. that you would expect to get the green light, it is, of course, Green Lantern. Now, appropriately enough, it appears that the emerald crusader is on the fast track for a sequel, nearly a full year before his first movie is scheduled to debut.

Yes, according to Variety, Warner Bros. has given the go-ahead to 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' scribe Michael Goldenberg to write a full screenplay for 'Green Lantern 2.' The move, which indicates the studio's clear commitment towards the Ryan Reynolds franchise, isn't a complete surprise, as they had previously commissioned a script treatment from the team that wrote the first 'Green Lantern' film.

That movie, of course, is scheduled to premiere next summer and centers on the origin of Hal Jordan, a test pilot who is chosen by a dying alien to become Earth's protector as a member of the Green Lantern Corps, an inter-galactic police force.

Considering the breadth of the character's concept, then, it's difficult to guess which elements of the comic character's rich background may make their way into the sequel; in the comics, Green Lantern battles alien armadas and cosmic menaces in deep space as often as he tackles more mundane supervillains on Earth. Given Hollywood's propensity to jamming comic book movies with as many characters and plotlines as possible, though, our guess is that the sequel will introduce one or more of Earth's other Green Lanterns, most likely John Stewart, Hal Jordan's African-American backup, who has recently starred in a number of high profile cartoons and who should not be confused with the host of 'The Daily Show.'

The sequel may also provide an opportunity for fans to see a new side of Blake Lively, who plays Hal Jordan's romantic interest, Carol Ferris, in the first 'Green Lantern' movie; in the comics, Ferris eventually becomes one of Jordan's arch-enemies in the form of the cosmic queen of love Star Sapphire.

Fans hoping to see Lively get her villain on and rock the purple tights will have to wait to see it, though: any decision on filming for 'Green Lantern 2' will no doubt be delayed until after the box office receipts from the first movie are tallied when that film finally debuts -- on June 17, 2011.

It's going to be a long year.