As it is with many superhero movies these days, the race to cast the title role in Green Lantern was a very public one. Though Ryan Reynolds eventually won the part, Bradley Cooper, Justin Timberlake, and Jared Leto were among the finalists whose names found their way to the press. Today at a press conference at Comic-Con, Reynolds shared the tidbit that he thinks clinched it for him over his competition.

Both Reynolds and producer Donald De Line admitted that the finalists had to endure two separate screen tests, and there was one important stipulation. “We found out that [the studio executives] always want to see the guy in the mask,” said De Line, “and Ryan looks really good in the mask.”

“There was a Cinderella element to it,” admitted Reynolds, laughing. “We have these things on our industry called a lifecast, and it’s a mold of an actor’s head and you can build a prosthetic around that. You can do anything with that, and obviously, Peter [Sarsgaard] did one for his prosthetics in the film.

“The effects house that was asked to make the Green Lantern mask had no idea who was auditioning, but they arbitrarily chose my head from the vast catalogue of actors’ heads to build the mask around. When I showed up to the set [for a screen test], my mask fit a little bit better than [it did in], maybe, Regis Philbin’s or Richard Chamberlain’s audition.”

I think I’m on to you, Mr. Reynolds. Is Justin the Regis and Bradley the Richard Chamberlain?

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Bradley Cooper lost out on being the Green Lantern because of his Batman impression.

‘The Hangover’ star auditioned for the part of the Green Lantern in the upcoming blockbuster of the same name, but lost out to Ryan Reynolds – and he blames Christian Bale for it.

The actor is quoted by Absolute Now as saying: “I did audition but I didn’t get it, Ryan Reynolds did. The trouble was that when I auditioned, it being a superhero movie, I couldn’t help but do my Christian Bale Batman voice. I don’t know why. Needless to say I didn’t get the job.”

Though Bradley may have to wait a while before he is caped-up and fighting crime, the Hollywood star has plenty in the pipeline to keep him occupied.

The 35-year-old is signed up to star in the sequel to the hugely successful comedy ‘The Hangover’, the highly anticipated summer release of ‘The A-Team’ as well as thriller sci-fi mystery ‘The Dark Fields’ with Robert De Niro.

Cooper plays Templeton ‘Facemen’ Peck in ‘The A-Team’, opening in US cinemas June 11.

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Unfortunately, Ryan Reynolds has been picked to be “The Green Lantern.” I was pulling for Bradley because I personally think that he would do it much better (lol), but oh well! Ryan is still one of my favorites. So I’m happy for him. Anyways, you can read about it here if you’d like to read the article: Ryan Reynolds Is ‘The Green Lantern’.

As our brother blog Splash Page mentioned earlier today, Ryan Reynolds, Bradley Cooper and Justin Timberlake are the final three moving on in the hopes of becoming America’s next top superhero Hal Jordan in 2011’s “Green Lantern.” Unfortunately, we can’t sit in on the screen tests, but we’re pretty sure we know how each actor (or in Justin’s case singer-actor) measures up. Here’s our list of the pros and cons of each would-be superhero. We’ll let you decide which hunk should don the coveted power ring.

Ryan Reynolds
Pro: Ryan’s already established his superhero cred as Wade Wilson in this summer’s “X-Men Origins: Wolverine.” Heck, he was so good producers gave him his own Deadpool spin-off set for a 2011 release.

Con: Those abs will be out of sight underneath that green suit. Sigh.

Bradley Cooper
Pro: They didn’t call him Zachary “Sack” Lodge in “Wedding Crashers” for nothing. The guy knows how to inflict pain…

Con:…unless he’s facing a nearly naked Asian man (like in “The Hangover”).

Justin Timberlake
Pro: Thanks to his inspired “Single Ladies” spoof, we know J.T. looks good in nothing more than a leotard and tights.

Con: Hal Jordan’s foes may not look too kindly upon the singer when he kicks their butts to the tune of “Cry Me a River.”

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Apparently the pressure is on Warner Bros. to make a decision about who they want to cast as Hal Jordan/Green Lantern in the upcoming live action GL film as holding options on the three actors they’ve narrowed it down to — Bradley Cooper, Ryan Reynolds and Justin Timberlake — have expired.

Notes The Hollywood Reporter, “The studio ordered up two rounds of screen tests with Cooper, Reynolds and Timberlake. Other actors in the early mix included Michael Fassbender, Henry Cavill and Jared Leto…Another issue impacting the casting process is the rising budget. ‘Lantern’ is a full-blown space epic that is expected to cost between $150 million and $200 million, if not more. Warners would like to have the production costs at a reasonable level before proceeding.The studio has scheduled the movie for a December 2010 opening.”

Of the three actors — and this is based on nothing more than supposition — it would seem that Cooper would have the edge. For one thing, Reynolds is already pretty closely identified with Deadpool and has reportedly signed to star in his own spin-off from X-Men Origins: Wolverine (plus, does Warners want an actor playing a Marvel character portraying one of the key DC heroes?); and Justin Timberlake, despite his incredible success in the music industry, has yet to prove himself a strong enough actor to assume this role.

As to Cooper, given the success of “The Hangover” and his obvious appeal to the audience, it would seem that he would be a natural for the part. What are your thoughts on the subject?

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