Green Lantern Gets HBO Max Series Order, Marc Guggenheim to Co-Write — Plus, Official Plot Details Revealed
HBO Max‘s Green Lantern series will in fact revolve around multiple Green Lanterns, it was confirmed on Friday as the project received an official series order, for 10 episodes.
When the ambitious DC superhero project was announced almost a year ago, prolific producer Greg Berlanti said that “in what promises to be our biggest DC show ever made, we will be going to space with a Green Lantern television series — but I can’t reveal any more about that just yet.”
Now our sister site Variety, which reported on the series order, has the details, saying that the show will “depict the adventures of a multitude of Lanterns, including Guy Gardner, Jessica Cruz, Simon Baz and Alan Scott — Earth’s first Green Lantern, who, true to the comics, is a gay man — and many more.”
Green Lantern will also include fan favorites such as Sinestro and Kilowog, and introduce new heroes to the ranks of the Green Lantern Corps.
The series will be co-written and executive-produced by Arrowverse alum Marc Guggenheim — who of course co-wrote the tepidly received 2011 Green Lantern movie starring Ryan Reynolds — and Seth Grahame-Smith, a novelist whose screenwriting credits include The LEGO Batman Movie. Grahame-Smith will serve as showrunner.
The CW’s Arrow, with its series finale, planted its biggest seed that John Diggle (whose stepfather’s last name is Stewart) had been enlisted to the Green Lantern Corps. Guggenheim said at the time that the semi-subtle Easter Egg — Dig opened a box that crash-landed on Earth, and was bathed in a green glow — “was something that was worked out over a year ahead with DC Entertainment. We very specifically negotiated and discussed the parameters.”
DC’s Stargirl, meanwhile, has dangled in front of us a lantern of the OG JSA’s that sometimes pulses green light, though series boss Geoff Johns has yet to follow through on any plan to weave it into a storyline.
Oh wow co-written by a man who didn’t know the Green Lantern oath in his movie script so Ryan Reynolds had to change it on set. Great job WB, very cool!
Hopefully he has learned his lesson.
I don’t see Arrow’s John Diggle name in the Lanterns list and I am not okay with this!
He did hint that he was talking with DC about this show a while back. Don’t despair!
So where is John at?
All hope is gone with those writers.
When I saw that Dan Ambroyer was a “Drone Pilot” in Batman v Superman I thought for sure at the time it was a possible Green Lantern easter egg. I thought he would be the movie version of Hal Jordan, but he would be well suited to take on Alan Scott.
I hope HBO Max is listening
“Alan Scott — Earth’s first Green Lantern, who, true to the comics, is a gay man”
That’s not exactly true. Up until a few years ago Alan Scott was straight, married and had 2 children (Jade and Obsidian). Changing him to be gay is a very recent change. So if they truly want to be true to the comics and his long history he should be straight not gay.
More accurate to say “true to SOME comics” or “true to CURRENT comics.”
And to be fair, closeted gay men have been getting married and having children for about as long as marriage has existed.
True but it was only in the Earth 2 comics that they made Alan Scott gay and those aren’t even in mainstream DC continuity. As for him being gay in normal continuity with the original character that is only within the last year.
Specifically that change came from the New 52 Earth 2 version of the character.
If you want to get really technical the OG Alan Scott wasn’t canon either. He came from Earth 2 as well. It wasn’t until the late 80s that they both GLs existed in the same continuity. Then they kind of locked him away for long periods of time once Hal Jordan and what most people know today as Green Lanterns took off. Then in the 90s he came back but as Sentinel and no ring. After a while he returned to his original GL look again but was still unconnected to the GLC. Then in 2011 or 2012 when DC did their 52 reboot they put AS back on E2, linked his powers to the Green, and introduced the character as gay. That version was around to what, 2017? Then Rebirth happened and AS kind of disappears again. Then the Doomsday Clock mess happened and they try once again to explain AS’s complicated history and his tendency to disappear from the DC canvas. Which then led to where we are now with the character. Which is DC seemingly merging the origins of both E2 AS into one. I haven’t kept up with comics much since the while Doomsday thing took hold but I did catch the 80th Anniversary GL book and I must admit they did a good job with the AS story. Where they take him down the road is anybody’s guess. Though they seem to be laying the groundwork as to how Obsidian and Jade exist as well as having AS gay. Which is extremely awkward as the original Obsidian himself was gay. Personally they should just make AS bisexual as that would make much more sense. You think DC would have learned from Marvel’s Iceman debacle.
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The thing with AS is that his character has always been an outsider once Julius Schwartz got his way. You can even argue that AS isn’t even a “true” GL because his powers have been magical in nature and not from the emotional spectrum. Honestly the way DC has handled the AS character post Schwartz I personally feel it’s not so clear as to who is the “real” AS. I mean look at Wonder Woman. She’s had so many different origin stories and reboots that DC literally turned all that contradictory history into a whole storyline for her.
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To be fair AS wasn’t the happily married straight family man his entire run as you kind of are implying. His first wife was a villain and their marriage didn’t last past the honeymoon where she “died”. He never even knew he had 2 kids because Rose/Thorn was supposed to be dead. Then his second wife started out as a villain too as the first Harlequin. As far as I know they didn’t have any children. In a way it’s kind of poetic that his love life has been so messed up. They could just write it off as the actions of a deeply closeted man from the 40s. It’s not like AS has really had the best love life. The gay version’s origin begins in tragedy.
Alan Scott’s Son Obsidian is gay.
If John Diggle isnt one of the Lanterns I won’t be watching. John deserves more from Marc.
Since (based on the end of Crisis) this Green Lantern series takes place in a different universe from the Arrowverse, even if John Stewart is in it, I doubt it will be John Diggle from Arrow. Since he was moving to Metropolis, I fully expect him to join Superman and Lois as GL there.
are they going to have two green lanters then?
cause if they arent making diggle the lantern, idk what the point of that tease in the arrow finale was
He may become a Lantern at some point in some show, but it won’t be in this show. At least not the version of Diggle we know. Maybe his Earth-12 doppelganger.
but wb would allow two lanterns at the same time in two different shows?
There are literally thousands of Green Lanterns in every universe. That’s the whole premise of the Corps.
Earth has multiple GLs. Brush up on your comic book history. Or troll Wiki for a few hours.
I’m interested in seeing more of the newer lanterns Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz, but Marc Guggenheim’s involvement is discouraging. I’m also ready for DCTV to move beyond these familiar names.
Doom Patrol is pretty far from mainstream, as is Swamp Thing. I wouldn’t say they’re just sticking to the familiar heroes.
And from the description, it sounds like this show will be focusing on a lot of the less-known members of the Corps.
Is Star referring to the characters or the creators? You could read that either way.
Good point. I’d be happy if they let new creatives take control of new shows.
Skilled oversight is great (just look at what Kevin Feige has done for Marvel), but letting passionate showrunners really dig in and make something unique is always good.
So far, I have to say that each of the DC Universe/ HBO Max shows has been pretty considerably different from the others, and from anything in the Arrowverse, so they’re doing okay so far.
Where is Kyle Rayner? He’s the best and one true GL.
I was looking for his name too. While I don’t mind the newer GLs if they don’t include Kyle I’ll be extremely bummed.
I feel like that title belongs pretty solidly to Hal Jordan, but Kyle was certainly a great addition to the legacy of human Lanterns (despite his unfortunate association with the “fridging” trend)
Hal Jordan is soooo annoying… I prefer the others.
I mean, if you know him from the Ryan Reynolds movie and the recent Justice League animated movies, I can see why you would think so.
But he proved himself pretty thoroughly in the 50 or 60 years of comics that came before that. Alan Scott was the original, but Hal has been THE Green Lantern of Earth for longer than anybody.
Hal Jordan is blander than every food item on the Bland Diet list. While I have enjoyed some of his bigger storylines from time to time he is literally the least compelling GL.
Bzzd was a more interesting GL who I shed a tear for when he died.
One might make a similar argument about Clark Kent. Or Diana Prince. Or Arthur Curry. Or Oliver Queen.
I’d say that being around long enough to become boring is practically a requirement for being the “one true version” of a DC superhero.
I agree. He is the best green lantern and I was sad that his name wasn’t mantioned.
Calling Kyle Rayner the “one true GL” is like saying Wally West is the “one true Flash” – he could absolutely be your favorite, but there are at least two guys who came before and held the title a lot longer and more prominently.
(and this is coming from a kid who came into the comics world during the Wally West JLA era, so I totally get it.)
I wonder if it will eventually include the other lanterns, like blue and red. I reeeeeally need John Diggle to at least make an appearance though. And I’m surprised they’re letting Guggenheim write since his movie was infamously a flop.
They should really get Geoff Johns to help. He played a large role in helping Green Lantern succeed in the 21st century.
I’m sure he’ll consult on the project, but he’s already stretched pretty think with all of the other shows, and particularly his passion project, Stargirl.
It would be so awesome if Arrows John Diggle was a part of the show. And I’m very excited about it featuring a gay character. Can’t wait for this one.
you would think david ramsey is playing the lantern and that be the end of it because wb had such faith in arrow but because its so mismanaged i have no hope of it happening
like if the canaries show aint happening at least let david become lantern, i dont care to see john and lyla move to metropolis
If Diggle becomes a Green Lantern in this show, it won’t be the Diggle from Arrow, because he’s in the Earth Prime universe, and this show is in the Earth-12 universe, and thus far they haven’t rediscovered breach technology to travel between universes post-Crisis.
yep
There’s a reason why as a gay male who grew up a comic book fan, I chose the online name I have. First serious role model I had.
Are you like 17? Because Alan Scott’s only been gay for like six years, and it’s not even the main version of him.
It’s been over 8 years, 9 if you count when the news “leaked”. The “main” AS is gay (possibly bisexual). And the TVLine AS can be of any age and have the character be their icon/hero/role model. All mine as a kid were dead or fictional. And I mean loooong dead. I mean nobody ever asked me if I was over 400 years old when I used to say that Queen Elizabeth I was one of my role models. A side eye maybe but that’s about it. Not everyone finds the real and/or living people around them that fascinating or inspiring.
I’m old enough to remember when no superhero was queer. Six years ago, decades after thinking Barry Allen at least was hiding something in his closet, I was pleased to finally see a new version of one of the oldest JSA’ers be recast as gay and happy with kids of his own. You don’t have to be 17 and gay or 37 and gay to appreciate that or to take strength from it,
Bring on the Geoff Johns’ the War of Lights. We haven’t had a good space opera on TV involving a universal threat since Battlestar Galactica.
So will this be a part of Arrowverse Prime, or an alternate universe (Earth-GL)?
Crisis On Infinite Earths put it on a different world (Earth 12) at the end.
Oh, right! I had completely forgotten that there was a shot of Oa in that closing montage!
Ooh, I forgot about that. Thanks!
Hal, John and Kyle are the Green Lanterns that people want to see… which is probably why they’re being reserved for much bigger projects… which I’d discuss here, but that could be a spoiler for an upcoming movie.
If they were smart, they’d stop trying to hold onto the new continuity. There’s a reason why the comics are struggling. Adapt stories that people want to see!
i have no faith in either Berlanti or Guggenheim. the movie was terrible. Each successive DC show in the “belantiverse” goes woke then broke. Arrow S1 and S2, flash season 1 were the only seasons of their shows that actually were any good. then they started to get a little power in their bellies and it all went horribly wrong.
It’s a utter travesty that Warner / DC TV has no TV showrunners who actually love the material enough not to subvert it for their own agendas
These guys have run dctv into the ground.
HBO Max you could have had a fresh start but instead went with the status Quo thats already dying on its feet. An utter travesty because Green Lantern universe in the the right hands could and should have been equal to starwars in its universe building.
I’m guessing you haven’t seen Doom Patrol yet.
This is very exciting…but also scary. I’m worried it’ll be botched along the lines of the Green Lantern movie. Hopefully the get the actors and tone right. Hopefully Geoff Johns will be involved…even though his involvement didn’t save the film. Anyway, hoping for the best!
Alan Scott was NOT “true to the comics, is a gay man ” — He was TURNED gay to appease the JGTYEHWQIW crowd who, instead of coming up with their own gay characters and letting them sink or swim, co-opt existing characters with built in fan bases and then turn them gay so those fans have to decide if they still like the character or not.
As Supergirl and Batwoman should have shown: No, they do not.
Expecting Alan Scott episodes to be the holes in the boat which will sink the series. Betraying fans does that and it one of the reason (the new) Alan Scott failed in the comics as well. If they would have kept him straight, his comic appearances would have been gold instead of pyrite.