Mark Strong is playing a LOT of badguys lately, but the most notable of them will be his role in the upcoming Green Lantern where he will be taking on the position of a “not badguy yet” Sinestro of the Green Lantern Corp.
The British actor was the foil for Robert Downey Jr. in the hit Sherlock Holmes, and will be a thorn in the sides of teenage superheroes and Russell Crowe, respectively, in Kick-Ass (out April 16) and Robin Hood (May 14). But comic book fans are most interested to what he will bring to the supervillain Sinestro in next year’s big-budget Green Lantern movie.
Strong, who’s currently filming John Carter of Mars in England, heads to New Orleans in June to join Green Lantern star Ryan Reynolds, who will be playing flyboy-turned-space cop Hal Jordan. When I talked with him recently for an upcoming Who’s News item, Strong told me that he can’t speak too much about the role, but “for anybody who’s familiar with the Green Lantern and the origin story, the film closely follows the early comics.
I really like the casting choice of Strong as Sinestro. While other fan options sounded great and may very well have been, Strong is making quite a presence for himself as a villain.
And the best villains are the ones that are not 100% evil. Sinestro has his own leadership style that while misguided is still effective and it isn’t until he crosses the line of stern leadership vs protection that causes Hal Jordan to tattletale on his Mentor and Trainer. This is what tips a powerful good guy to the bad side, and I think Strong has what it takes to play both sides of that coin.
Speculation says that Sinestro won’t don the Yellow power ring in this film, but will still play the role of Hal’s instructor before getting shamed out of the Corp.
