It’s a great comfort as a blogger to know that no matter how slow the news gets, there’s always a new generic superhero movie coming out whose trailer can be lifted for content. Call it “The Green Lantern” if you like, but what it looks like is a straight lift of “Iron Man” with a dorkier costume and a considerably less appealing roguishly charming military-affiliated protagonist. In fact, my main thought while watching it — apart from the obligatory “sweet F/X” — is who they might have cast in the Robert Downey Jr snarky-yet-endearing pomo hero role in lieu of Mr. Scarlett Johansson. What about Paul Rudd or Jeremy Piven? Or, more daringly, Jon Favreau? Not only does he have comedy chops, but casting him would nail down the “Iron Man” link nice and tight.

Exit question: Can any superhero flick make big, big bucks with a costume this lame? C’mon. No kid’s going home from the theater daydreaming about wearing a Green Lantern mask.

Update: Needless to say, if they’re now this far down into the bottom of the comics barrel for superhero movie ideas, it won’t be long before pre-production on an Aquaman flick is announced. We all know it’s coming, so let’s start preparing mentally.