Ryan Reynolds Nabs Green Lantern Role [2] Last week, it appeared to come down to three rather different guys as options for playing the Green Lantern in Warner Bros. upcoming big-budget, "full-blown space epic": Ryan Reynolds, Bradley Cooper and Justin Timberlake. Based on my poll, the majority of you thought Reynolds would be best for the role, and it turns out, the studio agrees. Ryan Reynolds will play Green Lantern.