Green Lantern, Thor, and the Super Hero Bubble

What do you see in the image on the left? A super hero? A green one? A ring? A weird purple Kool-Aid spill in the background? Planet Earth? The Green Lantern**?

Warner Brothers certainly hopes that you see the Green Lantern. Coming out this summer, the studio that brought us "The Dark Knight" is delivering their next big hope at a mega franchise. However, this film is more than just another "super hero" film. It's a huge step for the genre.

Notice I didn't say "huge step forward" for the genre, because the fact is, "Green Lantern" is going to be different than any super hero film people have seen. When I say different, I mean it's going to be full of some hardcore sci-fi insanity. Think giant purple headed extra-terrestrials, alien landscapes, and giant green shapes coming out of a ring. Peep the trailer here if you haven't yet.

In the past the super-hero genre of films has been grounded in "reality," meaning that people buy into the concept of the "hero" because it's rooted in our reality. People love the "Dark Knight" because it's basically a crime movie that happens to have Batman in it. Spiderman is cool because he's just a normal kid with some average powers, nothing too nuts. However,  Green Lantern and also Thor, which will feature some far out Techno viking realm are full blown far out super heroes. Will general audiences be able to handle this?

I guess we'll know the answer this weekend. Tonight the trailer for "Green Lantern" will debut on the big screen with "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1." If the multi-plexes go nuts when they see the Lantern regulating, I guess the audiences will be ready, but if they don't, looks like our super heroes might be grounded back in reality for a while. Also where the hell is our "Thor" trailer?

** My Dad loves the Green Lantern, me on the other hand, I'm more of a Batman dude, Green Lantern, not so much.