I am – Hercules!! Angela Bassett will play U.S. government operative Amanda Waller in “Green Lantern.” This is at least the second live-action incarnation of the character, portrayed on “Smallville” by Pam Grier. Both fine, tall, athletic actresses, of course, but were “Smallville” and “Green Lantern” more reverential toward the source material they’d be chasing Mo'Nique for the role. Having said this, I'll also point out that Bassett played both Mr. Smith's boss in "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" and CIA director Hayden Chase on several 2005 episodes of "Alias." Though Waller shares the same universe as Green Lantern in the DC funnybooks, she’s not typically thought of as somebody with especially close ties to the Lantern saga. She was introduced in 1986 as leader of the Suicide Squad, a group of supervillains recruited to expedite our government’s darker agendas.

On the animated "Justice League" series, she was voiced by CCH Pounder ("The Shield," "Warehouse 13"). Previously cast in "Green Lantern" are Ryan Reynolds (“Wolverine”) as the title character, Blake Lively (the “Traveling Pants” movies) as love interest Carol Ferris, Mark Strong (“Sherlock Holmes,” “Kick-Ass”) as power-craving Lantern Sinestro, Peter Sarsgaard (“An Education”) as big-brained villain Hector Hammond, Tim Robbins (“City of Ember”) as Hammond’s senator father, Taika Waititi (“Eagle Vs. Shark”) as Ferris Aircraft engineer Thomas Kalmaku, and Temuera Morrison (“Couples Retreat”) as veteran Lantern Abin Sur. Director Martin Campbell (“Casino Royale,” “Edge of Darkness”) begins principal photography on “Green Lantern” this month, working from a screenplay draft by Michael Goldenberg (“Contact,” “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”). Find all of Variety’s story on the matter here.

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