RUMOR: Is Denzel Washington Going to Play Green Lantern in 'Batman vs. Superman'? (UPDATE: Nope.)

A few weeks ago, there was a rumor going around that Warner Bros. had set its sights on Denzel Washington to play Lex Luthor in Batman vs. Superman. In light of a recent report that Joaquin Phoenix was in talks for a role in this movie and that the role was probably Lex Luthor, it sounds like Washington won't be playing Superman's nemesis. According to a story on Nuke the Fridge on Friday, Warner Bros. would like Washington to play Green Lantern.

A couple things about this story. First, I've never heard of Nuke the Fridge before this report. People are having trouble pinpointing one time that the site has broken a story. Second, this report says that Washington would play John Stewart, not Hal Jordan. Not only would this give Warner Bros. a major black superhero but it would also allow the studio to move forward without having to nullify or endorse the Ryan Reynolds Green Lantern movie.

If this report is true, Batman vs. Superman will now have Henry Cavill as Superman, Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Washington as Green Lantern and probably someone as Nightwing. A week or two ago, I offered the theory that Warner Bros. is secretly morphing this Man of Steel sequel into a full-fledged Justice League movie. Nuke the Fridge's story is a long, long way from being confirmed, but it further backs my Justice League theory.

UPDATE: The Batman experts over at Batman News say that the Washington-as-Green-Lantern rumor is "simply not true" and that the character won't even be in Batman vs. Superman. Batman News does cite a tweet from Latino-Review's El Mayimbe mocking the rumor, which I find kind of funny since El Mayimbe and Latino-Review were the guys swearing to have a scoop that Christopher Nolan would be running the entire Justice League Cinematic Universe and that there would be a Christian Bale cameo at the end of Man of Steel.