It's Just Movies

— by CAM SMITH —

There were some scattered murmurings of disapproval last September when news leaked that the main villain supreme in DC’s first “Green Lantern” film wouldn’t be Sinestro, but rather Hector Hammond, the paralyzed, giganto-domed gentleman with powerful psychic and psionic powers. Even the casting of the always-reliable Peter Sarsgaard didn’t quite silence some fans, who remained a tad perturbed by the fact that Ryan Reynolds’ first epic super-powered clash would be with a dude who probably can’t even get out of bed without a personal aid or, as I like to imagine, a rudimentary series of pulleys and levers.

Still, curiosity began to replace disappointment once theories and guesses as to how Sarsgaard would be outfitted to pull off the role began being tossed around the web. Would the character’s noggin size be toned down? Would Sarsgaard be realizing his performance largely through motion-capture? Was Hammond going to be drastically altered (read: made less silly) to not freak out the audience members already baffled as to why Hal Jordan was flying through space and not wielding a bow and arrow?

Judging from the leaked spy pic posted over at Sky Showbiz, it now appears that Sarsgaard, through the wonders of make-up prosthetics, will indeed be bearing a physical uber-bulbous cranium. While it’s hard to ascertain — given the fact that the photo was taken with the actor out of costume and not on set – whether or not Hammond will be portrayed as being largely motion-impaired, it does appear that he has been somewhat de-aged. As the character has been reinvented a number of times in the funny book pages, it’s a smart bet that this version will be a little less of a boring old man and more of an intimidating threat. It’s also unclear whether this is Hammond’s final hat-size or just one of a series of metamorphoses leading up to the not-so-walking humanoid hot air balloon of the comics.

Personally, I’m going to be really curious to see how director Martin Campbell manages to contrast his slick, CG-suited intergalactic avenger against this repulsive Frankenstein-ian night terror. Although I have all the faith in the world that Sarsgaard can pull of a seriously heinous heavy, I’m a little less convinced – given some of the more odd behind-the-scenes tidbits so far revealed — that “Green Lantern” is going to be a flick that really grabs the mass public the same way that some of the more relatable and quirky Marvel heroes, and Nolan’s Batman, have. Nevertheless, thus far, it certainly isn’t shaping up to be a bland cookie-cutter production, which is extremely comforting. Plus, I have to admit that this is one teaser-trailer I eagerly look forward to checking out, if only to see how much of the frame is blocked out by Hammond’s Easter Island statue skull.

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Follow Cam Smith on Twitter at http://twitter.com/camspcepisodes.