A couple of juicy rumors sprang up over the weekend.

First up was an interesting bit about Green Lantern. The film’s been struggling a bit recently, having been forced to move the entire production out of Australia due to the rising value of the Australian dollar (which is just a nicer way of saying the U.S. dollar’s in the toilet). AICN then broke what seemed like some good news though, reporting that Jackie Earle Haley was leading the list to play Sinestro, mentor to Hal Jordan before he flips sides and becomes the arch-nemesis of the entire Green Lantern Corps. While that would have been a great casting choice, the wheels of the interwebs got spinning over the weekend and it turns out that it may not be happening after all.

Collider did some following up, asking Earle Haley himself about the rumor. And, not entirely surprisingly, the actor denied knowing anything about it, saying he hadn’t been offered the role or heard from the filmmakers about it. He went on to say that it didn’t mean he would turn down the role should the opportunity to play the part arise. Earle Haley could very well be telling the truth, but there’s always the chance that since negotiations are still ongoing, he’s simply dancing around the truth at this point. Only time will tell.

Another interesting bit from the same AICN report has Superman making a cameo in Green Lantern. With the way Marvel’s been establishing their brand, I wouldn’t be surprised at all that DC would want to go down a similar path in linking up their universes. However, with the possibility of a Superman reboot always looming just around the corner, can they get their act together in time to present a new version of Supes that can work in his own franchise? More importantly, is that really how they want to introduce a new actor in the role? I say just give Brandon Routh back the cape — I was a fan of his Superman.

On to the next casting rumor! AICN was busy again, this time sourcing from a German edition of GQ magazine. Actor Matthias Schweighöfer, in an interview with the publication, said that he was up for a role in Kenneth Branagh’s Thor. But he then went on to say that Robert De Niro and Jude Law had already been cast in the film. Exciting news indeed, but a bit puzzling. On the one hand, they’re exactly the type of actors that Branagh would hire for his movie. On the other, what roles would they play? We’ll have to wait for more details to surface, but if this rumor proves true, it looks like Thor is going to be packing one hell of a cast when it goes in front of cameras next year!

Tags: DC, Green Lantern, Jackie Earle Haley, Jude Law, Kenneth Branagh, Martin Campbell, Marvel, Robert De Niro, Thor