Another comic book-inspired movie this season? You don’t say!
Luckily one doesn’t need to be a fan of the comics the films are based on to appreciate the big-budget productions that feature superheroes with sexy outfits, powers almost any human could envy, and the occasional bad wig. (OK, you can’t fault Halle Berry for Storm’s wonky wig in the first X-Men movie; it’s not like she picked it out herself.)
But there is something uniquely majestic and wonderful about the comic book-to-silver-screen franchise. For all those who once took flat one-dimensional scenes from the pages of the comics and animated them in their minds, seeing the story come to life can really be a jaw-dropping experience.
One of the cooler things about these characters is that they seem so accessible, and so similar to the audience. Even in the preview of Green Lantern, the extraterrestrial people’s leader tells his constituents “the ring chose a human.”
The heroes of these films, whether born as mutants or bestowed with superhuman powers later on in life, look like the average audience member does (albeit usually a bit prettier and trimmer) but can also freeze people, control minds, fly, harness the weather, shape-shift, and shoot things from their hands. (Don’t even pretend for a moment you haven’t tried to do at least one of those things at some point in your life, hoping an innate superpower would suddenly start working.)
Perhaps what makes these movies so fascinating to us is that they are able to bring our wildest fantasies to life. Well, maybe not our wildest ones, but at least they take us into these mysterious, alternate realities—whether it’s Batman’s Gotham City or Spider-Man’s New York—where almost anything can happen.
Is that why so many movies with such relatable superheroes are the ones that have been getting pulled from the pages of comics and tossed up onto the big screen in the last couple of months? Is it because they give us a feeling of escapism, or a reinvigorated belief in chance, that the studios thought that we as viewers might have needed?
In May we were treated to Chris Hemsworth’s performance as the Marvel-ous warrior Thor. This month we were able to enjoy a fifth serving from the X-Men pie when X-Men: First Class hit theaters and now, this weekend, we get to see Ryan Reynolds in Green Lantern. Next month, it’s Chris Evans’ turn to suit up for Captain America: The First Avenger.
Surely there must be some reason or greater conspiracy for this super-powered rollout. Did someone quietly poll the masses when they were determining the movie release schedule last year and decide that right about now was when America’s hunger for superheroes would be at an all-time high?
But while personal taste or a strong fancy for Mr. Reynolds will dictate whether you actually find this weekend’s newest release appetizing, we doubt you’ll decide that this Lantern-influenced cocktail, created by bartender Franky Marshall of New York’s Clover Club, is anything other than perfection.
“I didn’t want to take this cocktail in an obvious direction by using syrupy mint or melon liqueurs,” explained Marshall, after being asked for an appropriately green cocktail.
“I wanted to make something lighter, more ethereal. A tipple that could travel through space and time. A libation that would not weigh our hero down, but could take flight right alongside the Green Lantern himself. I give you: The Green Veil!”
The Green Veil
Created by Franky Marshall of Clover Club
½ oz. lime juice
½ oz. St. Germain Elderflower liqueur
¼ oz. Green Chartreuse
1 ½ oz. BarSol Pisco
1 oz. Vinho Verde white wine
½ oz simple syrup
1 kiwi
Muddle 2 medium-size slices of kiwi into the simple syrup. Shake all ingredients, excluding white wine, over ice. Fine strain into a coupe or ice-filled wine glass. Add Vinho Verde white wine and stir to integrate. Garnish with one kiwi wheel.
