Ryan Reynolds admires Adam West

Ryan Reynolds says playing a masked superhero has helped him realize a childhood dream started by watching Batman on TV.

The Hollywood hunk says he used to worship Adam West‘s camp version of the Caped Crusader and couldn’t help but think back to his days as a Bat fan as he pulled on his Green Lantern suit for this summer’s big blockbuster movie.

“I would watch Batman and Robin, with Adam West all the time when I was a kid,” says Ryan. “I loved that stuff. It was all really campy because the technology was never there so It’s a dream come true to play a comic book hero and do the character justice. It’s very special to be part of the comic book world.”

Ryan recently revealed that his character in Green Lantern goes through a transformation during the movie.

The actor takes on the character of Hal Jordan as the D.C. Comic book has been adapted for the big screen just one of this summer’s superhero movies.

“When we meet Hal Jordan, he’s a cocky, sarcastic, arrogant type of guy and he’s given this extraordinary gift,” Ryan said.

“Rather than [have] that amplify those character traits, he’s in fact humbled by it and given purpose in his life, which is what he lacked.

“We’re into it [early]. It’s an accelerated process. You don’t really want the movie to start in the third act.”

Green Lantern is released June 17.