Nathan Fillion Voicing Hal Jordan in Upcoming Green Lantern DC Animated Release

Many lobbied for Nathan Fillion, currently the star of the ABC romantic comedy-drama cop show Castle, to star as Green Lantern, specifically Hal Jordan, on the big screen, but of course the role went to Ryan Reynolds.  Well, now we have fine consolation prize.

Fillion will voice the role of Hal Jordan in the upcoming DC direct to video release Green Lantern: Emerald Knights, due June 7 a week before the release of the Green Lantern feature film in theaters June 17.  The animated release will also feature Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men) as the voice of Arisia, a longtime fan favorite in the various Green Lantern comics for decade.

Green Lantern: Emerald Knights will be available Blu-Ray Combo Pack and 2-Disc Special Edition DVD, as well as single disc DVD from Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. The movie will also be available On Demand and for Download.

In the animated film Arisia is a young recruit forced into her first mission on just her third day as a Green Lantern and is taken under the wing of Jordan, also not unlike the comics when she first appeared (Tales of the Green Lantern Corps #1, 1981).  

The voice cast also features actor/spoken word artist and post-punk icon Henry Rollins as Kilowog, Jason Isaacs as Sinestro, legendary professional wrestler “Rowdy” Roddy Piper as Bolphunga, Arnold Vosloo (The Mummy) as Abin Sur, Kelly Hu (The Vampire Diaries) as Laira and Wade Williams (Prison Break) as Deegan. Radio Hall of Fame commentator/talk show host Michael Jackson voices the ever-wise Guardian, Ganthet.

Bruce Timm is executive producer of of the film and the directors are Lauren Montgomery, Jay Oliva and Christopher Berkeley.

'Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics' Documentary Due November 9 on DVD

Warner Bros. Pictures will release Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics, distributed by Warner Home Video November 9, 2010 on DVD. The documentary will also be available On Demand and for Download.

Screened at Comic-Con International last month (July), the film looks at the home of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash and many more, starting with DC Comics' beginnings in the 1930s right on up to this decade. Narrated by Ryan Reynolds (Green Lantern, in theaters June 2011),  Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics was written and directed by Mac Carter with Jeffrey Blitz (Spellbound, The Office)  as executive producer. The producers were Gregory Noveck with Ivan Cohen co-producing and Sean Welch and Janet Eckholm.

Chronicling 75 years of DC Comics history, the film draws from comic books, films and television series and features interviews and comments from some of the most influential comic book writers, artists and editors, Including Neal Adams, Karen Berger, Mike Carlin, Dan DiDio, Neil Gaiman, Geoff Johns, Jim Lee, Paul Levitz, Dwayne McDuffie, Grant Morrison, Dennis O’Neil, Paul Pope, Louise Simonson, Mark Waid, Len Wein, and Marv Wolfman.

“From the bans to the breakthroughs, from humble pulp beginnings to the literary rise of the graphic novel, the story of DC Comics holds a mirror to an ever-evolving enterprise and the society reflected in its comic book pages,” said Diane Nelson, President, DC Entertainment in a statement “It’s a true American story – Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics is a riveting, exciting, surprising revelation of that fascinating history and the men and women who forged it.”

DC began as National Allied Publications debuting with the tabloid-sized New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine in 1935). The company's second title, New Comics #1 was published the same year, smaller and a size that became the standard for comics during the "Golden Age" of the '30s through the mid-50s. New Comics became Adventure Comics, which enjoyed a run through issue #503 in 1983 and the title was recently revived. A third title, Detective Comics, appeared in 1937 and featured detective tales until 1939's introduction of The Batman in issue #27. 

By then. Detective Comics Inc. was already a company which had merged with National had also added Action Comics, whose #1 issue had introduced Superman in 1938, and of course he and Batman earned their own titles as well.  With the National Allied Publications merger, the company became National Comics and in 1944 took on All-American Publications. So now, with plenty of superheroes to its name, the comic book company became National Periodical Publications but used the logo "Superman-DC" and became known as DC Comics as a nickname, eventually taking it on as an official name.  

Along with Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics, also look for longtime DC writer and former company president Paul Levitz massive hardcover 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking also coming in November