Green Lantern on HBO Max

[Hybrid]

https://collider.com/green-lantern-s...greg-berlanti/

Green Lantern is in development for HBO Max, and is said to be DC's most ambitious show ever with a budget of over 100 million. I hope it lives up to its potential so we can all forget about the movie.

What do you guys hope to see out of it?

Here are the things I want to see:

1. Hal Jordan and John Stewart buddy cop, with the two playing off of each other, making them the ideal leads for the show.
2. The rest of the supporting cast should mainly be aliens, because of the cosmic focus.
3. Mature writing, none of that kiddie CW crap. I wouldn't be surprised if it's TV-MA if it's like the comics, with the violence and sexuality being present and uncensored. On top of that, just mature themes and be no holds barred in terms of storytelling.
4. Speaking of which, don't tie this into the CW 'verse. I've heard it rumored in the past, but I think they backed out. Anyways, this series doesn't need to be part of that teen drama verse and should instead be a fresh start.
5. Heavy focus on the sci-fi, and have the feel of a "space opera meets cop drama" by combining the epic scope of the former with the police procedural elements of the latter.
6. Have extensive worldbuilding as they establish the way the universe works (a major problem with the 2011 movie was lack of time).
7. Get the effects right. I think Green Lantern will need them the most of any superhero, so don't screw it up.

This has huge potential and it's definitely a Max Original that I'm looking forward to. I hope it's the amazing show that it could be, so as to deliver the full potential of the Green Lantern mythology and to help usher in a new era of superhero entertainment. I guess this means the DCEU movie is dead at this point, but the DCEU is pretty much toast as well anyways and it'd be better not to have the old DCEU stink all over this. Likewise, as said I do not want any connections to the CW. This is HBO Max, which is modeled after HBO and I'd expect that prestige quality to carry over here.

What do you think?

[Revolutionary_Jack]

The only way to get Green Lantern right is to make John Stewart the main and only Green Lantern.

He was the only GL to crossover and make it big, which he did in the Justice League cartoon. Unfortunately, thanks to Geoff Johns and his largely (malign) influence on DC, that's not going to be allowed to happen.

[Hybrid]

The only way to get Green Lantern right is to make John Stewart the main and only Green Lantern.

He was the only GL to crossover and make it big, which he did in the Justice League cartoon. Unfortunately, thanks to Geoff Johns and his largely (malign) influence on DC, that's not going to be allowed to happen.

Why do you say that? I already suggest Hal/John as like a buddy cop dual lead which sounds great. John crossed over and made it big because he was well-written, which any character can be in the right hands.

[Immortal Weapon]

I want to John as the main character. Jordan is a proven failure. Have it center around John and put Jordan in a supporting role or don't have him at all.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Why do you say that? I already suggest Hal/John as like a g buddy cop dual lead which sounds great.

Because after having John Stewart as the impressive, competent, capable African-American protagonist and definitive GL of the Justice League cartoons, obviously being "the black guy" in a buddy cop story centered on a white a--hole is the way forward.

Give me a break.

I want to John as the main character. Jordan is a proven failure. Have it center around John and put Jordan in a supporting role or don't have him at all.

That just proves the hypocrisy of the superhero business. If a white superhero lead fails in a box-office in a big way as happened with the Ryan Reynolds GL (which didn't just fail it became a goddamn laughing stock on the Batman & Robin level, made into punchlines in Reynolds' Deadpool movies) which was an accurate translation of Hal Jordan as Johns' conceived him, he's still gonna get multiple second chances. But if a female superhero fails, or an African-American superhero fails...or in the case of John Stewart, succeeding, then that's still not gonna help them move forward.

Hal Jordan had the Reynolds movie, he had those mediocre CGI animated cartoons that came out after that, and nothing since then. The Green Lantern that did cross over big was John Stewart voiced by Phil LaMarr and yet he never got the push that was his by right.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

The only way to get Green Lantern right is to make John Stewart the main and only Green Lantern.

He was the only GL to crossover and make it big, which he did in the Justice League cartoon. Unfortunately, thanks to Geoff Johns and his largely (malign) influence on DC, that's not going to be allowed to happen.

Yeah.... no. John Stewart is probably the worst Green Lantern to lead a series with. With Hal you actually get most of the relevant mythology (Star Sapphire and Sinestro are tied to him), with Kyle you can get the the last of the Green Lanterns story and he has some of his own villains and myths. And with Guy it can be a comedy series that isn't to serious.

I'd love for John to be in the series. I'd love for it to be an ensemble with lots of variety. But he's like the last one who should be leading a series.

John's only ever succeeded when he was carried by Superman and Batman and he was only there because the people making the show wanted to avoid a fan fight between Hal and Kyle fans.

[Hybrid]

Why are we bringing race into this? I wasn't even thinking about that, but just seeing Hal and John play off of each other as part of the cast dynamic.

[Immortal Weapon]

Because after having John Stewart as the impressive, competent, capable African-American protagonist and definitive GL of the Justice League cartoons, obviously being "the black guy" in a buddy cop story centered on a white a--hole is the way forward.

Give me a break.



That just proves the hypocrisy of the superhero business. If a white superhero lead fails in a box-office in a big way as happened with the Ryan Reynolds GL (which didn't just fail it became a goddamn laughing stock on the Batman & Robin level, made into punchlines in Reynolds' Deadpool movies) which was an accurate translation of Hal Jordan as Johns' conceived him, he's still gonna get multiple second chances. But if a female superhero fails, or an African-American superhero fails...or in the case of John Stewart, succeeding, then that's still not gonna help them move forward.

Hal Jordan had the Reynolds movie, he had those mediocre CGI animated cartoons that came out after that, and nothing since then. The Green Lantern that did cross over big was John Stewart voiced by Phil LaMarr and yet he never got the push that was his by right.

I Vividly remember some people being pissed about Ryan Reymonds casting when the movie was announced because fans thought that DC was whitewashing the character. A lot of people of my generation grew up with John as their lantern thanks to Justice League. Their failure to capitalize on his success continues to dumbfound me. He's a guy that's proven to succeed when given the chance. From the Green Lantern mosaic book to the Justice League show. Green Lantern is a franchise where sticking with the classic hero just doesn't work.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

Why are we bringing race into this? I wasn't even thinking about that, but just seeing Hal and John play off of each other as part of the cast dynamic.

Because a lot of John fans care about him black. It's hard to argue his character because his character is probably the least consistent of the main Green Lantern's. Storywise it's hard to argue him because aside from Mosaic he doesn't have many iconic stories and isn't as crucial to key elements of the mythos.

Hal and Kyle fans don't have a problem with a show featuring him. A lot of John fans don't want the competetion and get upset at the idea that he might not be the main character. Which is kind of funny, because they love to tout Justice League as proof that he is a successful character, but then ignore that it was an ensemble and Batman and Superman (even Wonder Woman) were far more prominently featured.

[Immortal Weapon]

Yeah.... no. John Stewart is probably the worst Green Lantern to lead a series with. With Hal you actually get most of the relevant mythology (Star Sapphire and Sinestro are tied to him), with Kyle you can get the the last of the Green Lanterns story and he has some of his own villains and myths. And with Guy it can be a comedy series that isn't to serious.

I'd love for John to be in the series. I'd love for it to be an ensemble with lots of variety. But he's like the last one who should be leading a series.

John's only ever succeeded when he was carried by Superman and Batman and he was only there because the people making the show wanted to avoid a fan fight between Hal and Kyle fans.

Jordan is a terrible lead. Nothing about him as a character is interesting or engaging. He the type of character that has interesting things happen around and none of it is because of him. Star Sapphire is great because of Carol, you don't need Hal around for Sinestro to work.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

I Vividly remember some people being pissed about Ryan Reymonds casting when the movie was announced because fans thought that DC was whitewashing the character. A lot of people of my generation grew up with John as their lantern thanks to Justice League. Their failure to capitalize on his success continues to dumbfound me. He's a guy that's proven to succeed when given the chance. From the Green Lantern mosaic book to the Justice League show. Green Lantern is a franchise where sticking with the classic hero just doesn't work.

That's fair view, but you guys aren't portraying it accurately. Yeah Mosaic was decently successful. It was nowhere near the success that John's run on Green Lantern was that propelled the franchise for a decade and made it one of DC's top comic lines. Mosaic was never of that level. But somehow that run is getting trashed by that particular poster even though it's a more successful comic run than any solo GL run ever. And if we are going to talk about Justice League, Hal was in the Super Friends which was basically that era's Justice League. And to be quite frank, neither were really a statement on either character's ability to succeed. It's going to be quite hard to fail in a show that features two of biggest superheroes ever.

Regardless you won't satisfy any Green Lantern fans. There's a reason there are three different GL appreciation threads on the DC board. It's always been better to just make it an esemble.

[Hybrid]

That movie would've been awful if it starred John yet nothing else was changed. It has NOTHING to do with Hal.

[Immortal Weapon]

Because a lot of John fans care about him black. It's hard to argue his character because his character is probably the least consistent of the main Green Lantern's. Storywise it's hard to argue him because aside from Mosaic he doesn't have many iconic stories and isn't as crucial to key elements of the mythos.

Hal and Kyle fans don't have a problem with a show featuring him. A lot of John fans don't want the competetion and get upset at the idea that he might not be the main character. Which is kind of funny, because they love to tout Justice League as proof that he is a successful character, but then ignore that it was an ensemble and Batman and Superman (even Wonder Woman) were far more prominently featured.

John had a couple of episodes of Justice League where he was the central character. Like when when he was taken to oa when accused of destroying a planet, the brave and the bold episode where he and Wally took on gorilla grodd, the Despero episode, his ship with Hawkgirl and the convoluted history they share. That show did a lot for him.

I would love it if Kyle would get his main character status back. He's actually my favorite lantern.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

Jordan is a terrible lead. Nothing about him as a character is interesting or engaging. He the type of character that has interesting things happen around and none of it is because of him. Star Sapphire is great because of Carol, you don't need Hal around for Sinestro to work.

I'm sorry I actually read the original comics. Carol was a cardboard cut out back then with nothing interesting about her. The reason Star Sapphire was interesting was because it was the heroes girlfriend being the villain and the personal dilemma it caused Hal. Otherwise Carol would just show up in random "will they won't they scenes" where Hal was just slowly advancing to winning her over. Sinestro was a C-tier villain and he became a heavy hitter in SCW. In those stories they were explitely tying him to Hal Jordan and their dynamic was the prominent one. Sinestro trained Jordan (in current canon, before Sinestro was designed to be Hal's villain), Jordan was the reason he left the Green Lantern's, when Hal turned to Parrallax they went out of their way to make Sinestro the final man he faced. When Hal was Spectre he fought Sinestro's ghost for goodness sakes. When Hal returned as a Green Lantern they also brought Sinestro back for the first time in years alongside him because they valued that relationship. Everything since has been heavily featured around their relationship as characters. It's so misleading to act like they aren't tied to each other.

As far as characters, what's John's compelling character? "stoic shoulder" or is "I'm crying about the planets I blew up" or is it "angry cocky loudmouth parody" from when he first appeared.

[Hybrid]

I can't believe this is even a debate. GL is an ensemble piece, and it'd be best for the focus to be shared among the numerous characters bound to appear. It can be Hal and John, it doesn't have to be Hal or John.