New “Badass” Green Hornet movie on the way, sans Seth Rogen

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Seth Rogen's GREEN HORNET is a weird one for me. I can't say I hate it, but it was still disappointing to see that Rogen didn't step out of his wheelhouse as much as I had hoped, since it was still ostensibly a comedy (even if it had some dark moments like people getting cut up by a buzz saw).

While the film did well, it wasn't enough to create a franchise. The rights have since lapsed to Paramount, who recently tapped director Gavin O'Connor (THE ACCOUNTANT) to take the reins of new GREEN HORNET reboot. Here's what O'Connor had to say about the project:

I’ve been wanting to make this movie — and create this franchise — since I’ve wanted to make movies…[a]s a kid, when most of my friends were into Superman and Batman, there was only one superhero who held my interest — The Green Hornet. I always thought he was the baddest badass because he had no superpowers. The Green Hornet was a human superhero. And he didn’t wear a clown costume. And he was a criminal — in the eyes of the law — and in the eyes of the criminal world. So all this felt real to me. Imagine climbing to the top of the Himalayas, or Mount Everest, or K2 over and over again and no one ever knew? You can never tell anybody. That’s the life of Britt and Kato. What they do, they can never say. They don’t take credit for anything.

At least the dude's passionate. A mandate also seems to make the character a cool and "badass", rather than campy like the '60s show or Rogen's 2011 vehicle:

My intention is to bring a gravitas to The Green Hornet that wipes away the camp and kitsch of the previous iteration…When we meet Britt Reid he’s lost faith in the system. Lost faith in service. In institutions. If that’s the way the world works, that’s what the world’s going to get…Britt made money doing bad things, but moving forward he’s making no money doing good things. He must realize his destiny as a protector and force of justice.

The studio apparently really wants more franchises (especially since the new TMNT reboot seems to be a dud). And, honestly, I think you could easily make a really awesome and gritty GREEN HORNET film if you wanted to. However, my main concern is O'Connor doesn't seem to make a lot of references to Kato, who honestly was one the best parts of the Seth Rogen film. Let's hope he's not just an after-thought in this new one.

So what do you guys think? Does GREEN HORNET deserve a second chance? Sound off below!