Angela Bassett To Play Amanda Waller In ‘Green Lantern’

With principle photography currently taking place in New Orleans, things seem to be picking up quite a bit for Martin Campbell’s upcoming Green Lantern film starring Ryan Reynolds. We haven’t heard much in the way of casting lately, until now. According to THR, actress Angela Bassett is now stepping in to play the famed DC secret government employee Amanda Waller:

Bassett is playing Dr. Amanda Waller, a government agent who in comics lore became charged with overseeing the Suicide Squad, a government-run group of captured supervillains performing tasks in exchange for eventual freedom. It is unclear if that group will pop up in “Lantern” or if that mythology is being set up.

Could this mean we’ll be getting into the Suicide Squad story in Green Lantern? It would make sense, if Warner Bros wants to compete directly with Marvel’s plan to keep all of the films intertwined, to use Bassett’s Amanda Waller as their Nick Fury, being a constant in upcoming DC films.

Between casting Bassett in Green Lantern, and Pam Grier taking on the same role on the CW’s Smallville, it seems that casting agents are looking to change the role from John Ostrander’s original, portly incarnation of the character to more of a sultry, cougar-esque woman of power.

Along with Bassett in the cast is Temuera Morrison, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Tim Robbins, and Mark Strong as Sinestro. The film is currently slated for a June 17th release in 2011, so expect to hear or see more from the studio as we approach ComiCon and next June’s release.