John Stewart is Hal Jordan’s protegé, and he’s convinced he’ll be a better Green Lantern than Hal ever was. He might be right.
DC Studio’s take on the Green Lanterns is a little off the wall, and has garnered no small amount of negative commentary from the fans.
For starters, Hal Jordan isn’t the man he apparently once was. He’s older, grizzled and careworn. He’s also not above doing morally gray things, like using the ring to create counterfeit money. The series is also set in a burned out mid-western town, with local politics and intrigue. It makes the setting feel small—until they take us to outer space, and we’re aboard an alien spacecraft, with Hal Jordan imprisoned within an energy field. There’s plenty of tension and action, and when the constructs of the ring appear, they’re all the more impressive when they finally do.
The question of how the ring is passed on and earned by its wearers comes into question as a plot point. Normally, you have to be chosen, but Stewart potentially inheriting it from Jordan once Jordan dies comes up. We’re pretty sure that’s not how it works. Still, in this series, Stewart does wield one. Whether it’s the same ring Jordan wears at the beginning is an open question.
Hal is pretty cavalier with the way he treats the ring. Honestly, if I had an Oan power ring, I’m not sure it would ever leave my hand. Not even in the shower.
Lanterns stars Kyle Chandler as Hall Jordan, Aaron Pierre as John Stewart, and Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner. It premieres August 16 on HBO Max.
