For a good chunk of time, the three names rumored to be up for the coveted title role in the Green Lantern movie were Bradley Cooper (The Hangover, Wedding Crashers), Chris Pine (Star Trek, Smokin’ Aces), and Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson, The Notebook) (Read: ‘Green Lantern’ Gets Pushed Back Six; May Have Its Star). Just yesterday, word came around that a new list of three had been deduced, and that list still included Cooper, but added both Justin Timberlake (Alpha Dog) and Ryan Reynolds (X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Proposal). Thankfully, instead of this turning into another The Dark Knight Joker casting rumor bonanza, the actor has been chosen, and it is indeed Ryan Reynolds.

As is common, the deal isn’t completely official yet, but Reynolds did two screen tests for the studio and they chose him, so right now they’re just trying to work on the monetary and contractual obligations. It’s safe to assume that they want this to be a massive franchise and not just one successful movie, so expect the actor to likely sing on for a few pictures.

Of the bunch, this would be my own personal favorite for the role. Many don’t seem to like Reynolds, for some reason, but he has the looks, he can act much better than he’s given credit for, and the dude has some impeccable comic timing, which is always a tremendous asset. There was of course the fantastic fan-made Green Lantern trailer that had Nathan Fillion playing the lead role — something I would have really loved to see — but again, of the many choices listed above, Reynolds is a great choice.

The really interesting variable in all of this, is that Green Lantern is a DC Comic. Recently, Ryan Reynolds appeared in the Marvel film, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, as Deadpool — a role that is supposedly set to evolve into a feature Deadpool spinoff movie with Reynolds attached. So, as you can see, this could ruffle some feathers. I have to imaging there’s a clause in the contract forbidding him from Deadpool; I don’t see how they’d possibly be okay with him doing both, and we know he wasn’t the only choice for this part. A very interesting new layer to this story.

Green Lantern will be directed by Martin Campbell (Casino Royale), and written by Michael Green (Heroes, Kings), Greg Berlanti (Eli Stone, Everwood), and Marc Guggenheim (who recently spoke about a Superman cameo, and even more ironically wrote the X-Men Origins: Wolverine video game!).

The movie is currently set for a June 17, 2011 release date.

[Source: THR]