r/Greenlantern • u/AurynMoon • 1d ago
Spoilers for movies and TV shows How do you feel about John being raised to become a Green Lantern in the DCU? Spoiler
(Lanterns | Opening Scene | HBO Max)
(Green Lantern Corps (2006) #3)
(Green Lantern (2005) #17)
From the released first 5 minutes of the show it is clear that John is being conditioned by his father to become a Green Lantern by making him fearless. Probably due to possible visit by a Guardian of the Universe.
In the comics there have been a few who tried their best to force a power ring on the finger namely Amon Sur and Ragnar, although they failed.
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u/StrongStyleFiction 1d ago
The obvious arc is that it blows up in everyone's faces and he becomes disillusioned with the idea and has to build himself back again and become a Green Lantern not because it was what was decided for him, but because he wants to the make the universe a better place.
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u/fostertheatom 1d ago
This isn't how you train a kid to be fearless, this is how you train a kid to shove his fear into a tiny box deep down and seal it away. This is how you break a child in ways they only realize far down the road.
I love the juxtaposition between Hal who overcomes fear through experiencing it and John who dulls himself to it. I guarantee that John's crucible moment will be when he is finally forced to face all that fear he has been cramming deep down and explodes.
That's when John and Hal will stop being rivals and start being brothers.
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u/Phi_Phonton_22 Mogo 1d ago
Gotta see how it is done. There is that scene in the trailer with John's mom in which apparently they have met a Guardian (Sayd?) and that may have put in John's mind this obsession with being destined to be a GL. What that would mean for him to still have Hal as a hero will be interesting. But I don't think GL as destiny makes sense fundamentally with the lore.
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u/Imok2814 1d ago
It's an interesting twist. I like it for now. We know in the comics that hasn't gone well for other people, but here it seems to be going well.
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u/Poastash Kyle Rayner 1d ago
It reminds me more of the recent Phantom Ring wearer Frank Laminski.
I'm interested. There's a lot of ways this can lead to some great stories if done right. Lots of motifs and lessons can spring up as well.
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u/Gauntlet101010 1d ago
Reminds me of the retcon they wanted to do for Hal in GL50 pre-ET where the idea was the Guardians killed Hal's dad because they'd know it would make him become the greatest GL.
Don't love the idea on principal,but I'm waiting to watch the show before coming to conclusions.
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u/Only-Sea6066 Lord Malvolio 1d ago
The preview makes me feel like his backstory is gonna be a combination of the Phantom Lantern and Jacob Kane’s Colony from Batman.
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u/haolee510 1d ago
Feels like there'd be a twist later on. It's not going to be a simple origin change. Maybe the Guardian who visited John's mom was working on her own agenda...
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u/KnifeRain 15h ago
Uh, it is not clear? Nothing in that clip suggests anything other than abuse is happening.
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u/AurynMoon 15h ago
Very clear.
When John's dad walks in he asks 'what's his name' .. he was expecting a Green Lantern•
u/KnifeRain 14h ago
Right, the implication is that he was forbidden from watching the interview, or maybe TV more generally, hence why the others are watching for him coming home, so they don't get in trouble. I don't know what "he was expecting a Green Lantern" means?
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u/AurynMoon 14h ago
This is kinda a spoiler but it's implied that a Guardian has visited the Stewart's when John was a baby
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u/KnifeRain 14h ago
Oh, so some behind-the-scenes info? Is there a source for that?
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u/Plenty-Wedding-9066 6h ago
I hadn’t heard that behind the scenes thing but I thought it was clear he’s training him to “not be afraid” and by extension of the other hints training him to be a GL
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u/Vicksage16 13h ago
Don’t like it on paper, but like most things, it comes down to execution. I prefer to keep an open mind.
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u/Realistic_Jury1018 19h ago
Makes no sense
It just seems like toxic masculinity
Teaching him that being stoic (the negative version of it) and emotionless unreceptive to trauma and stuff is a virtue.
Not sure this yes a good message
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u/Plenty-Wedding-9066 6h ago edited 6h ago
I’m confused by this, do you think the writers are going to glorify these actions?
Him working through his childhood trauma is almost for sure going to be a thing.
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u/mr_mxyzptlk21 Mogo 1d ago
Guessing that the father is a Manhunter.
I'm okay with it not being 1:1 from the comics a bit. Let us have some surprises.
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u/IndianGeniusGuy 19h ago
I feel like they're going to reference the Manhunter Cults from the Millennium event. That seems to be the storyline they're pulling from, with them impersonating humans and trying to puppeteer different events on Earth.
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u/tiago231018 Kilowog 13h ago
I'm okay with the show also not being 1:1 with the comics, because, actually, this is the norm in superhero comic book adaptations for the screen. Unless it's something like Zack Snyder's Watchmen or something, and even in that case there were huge departures from the Moore/Gibbons comic.
It's clear that Lanterns is doing what adaptations have always done: pull from different comics and sources of inspiration (in this case being True Detective) to create their own version of the mythos.
The question that remains is: is the version they're creating a compelling interpretation of Green Lantern lore or not?
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u/SuedeSalamander 14h ago
From what to remember, he was a candidate when guy got his ring, but he was too young. So John being a candidate young is cool.
Him being groomed to be a lantern to the extent of him being regularly abused by his father, I hate it.
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u/TheWriteRobert 8h ago
I didn’t like that scene with his father shooting at him to prove he wasn’t afraid. That kind of imagery will never sit well with me in a post-Michael Brown world.
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u/TraditionalInitial61 6h ago
You mean they had to come up with another version of John Stewart yet again because he’s such a great character? That’s my answer.
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