Hal Jordan: The Green Lantern Appreciation 2022

[Frontier]

I think most John fans expected a story where something happened to the others and John got recruited. We get some battle with Sinestro or someone else. Not Kyle's origin and Zero Hour mixed together.

This story would be the LAST story I would use.

And I appreciate that, but I see some people so happy at John being a lead character and Hal being dead that the final direction they took would be more than welcome to them.

Especially to people who were more than happy with him being a villain and not the lead character because that was Hal at his most "interesting." Which, to me, always felt like just an excuse to write him out so other Lanterns could take the spotlight.

To be honest I also find this as slighting Sinestro and his stature as a villain.

[skyvolt2000]

Yes, one of the big downsides of this is that it will just cause further divisions in an already fractured fanbase. Whereas a movie that just didn't have Hal or opened with him as having already died in the line of duty off-screen and just focused on John would cause MUCH less damage.

And I don't want to fall into the trap of resenting John and his fanbase, because John SHOULD be utilized more and even have a turn in the spotlight as the lead. He's earned that. But man, it's going to be hard not to, because this is all tailor made to prop John up with a little bit of cashing in on DCAU nostalgia on the side.

Welcome to what Black Panther fans are dealing with.

At least Hal is getting handed into the hands of writers who OPENLY don't care for and will gladly write that into books.

[Johnny]

I wish to make it clear that none of what I said was meant as any kind of attack on John, and only about DC's treatment of Hal done solely for the sake of propping up another character. As I said initially, I approached this with an open mind and I was hoping it would just be a good John-centered movie, and if you are a John fan you may very well end up thinking it is, but it's just not for me because what was done to Hal was so unnecessarily disrespectful.

[SiegePerilous02]

I echo Johnny's statement that none of Hals' appearances in other media have demonized or disrespected any of the other Earth Lanterns, which makes it more glaring what they did for John's movie.

Even in the comics, Kyle being created lead to Hal being made into a villain to make room for him. But when Hal returned, Kyle was treated pretty well, all things considered. he just wasn't the lead anymore, but even his own Parallax turn was quick and painless. He was freed by the end of the arc and still 100% a sympathetic hero.

At that same time, they didn't capitalize on John being in the DCAU nearly as much as they should have. He was just sort of there. But at least he wasn't demonized the way Hal is here. This ONLY seems to happen to Hal.

[Vordan]

Yeah that's it and after he dies and the heroes part ways with Hawkgirl, Ollie says he made a "new friend" and him and John go to grab something to eat.

God damn and I thought Clark got it bad. Why do they keep doing this? I like John and Hal, constantly pitting the two against each other doesn’t help the franchise at all. It just makes everything more toxic. Stuff like this is why I’m not very happy at the idea of “anyone can wear the mask” if they’re going to be doing more stuff like this.

[Frontier]

God damn and I thought Clark got it bad. Why do they keep doing this? I like John and Hal, constantly pitting the two against each other doesn’t help the franchise at all. It just makes everything more toxic. Stuff like this is why I’m not very happy at the idea of “anyone can wear the mask” if they’re going to be doing more stuff like this.

To be honest I don't see them doing this with anyone but Hal because I could never see them doing a movie or cartoon where Sam Wilson has to kill a brainwashed nazi Steve Rogers or where Miles Morales has to take out an evil Peter Parker (unless it was pretty clearly an AU and not the real deal).

Hal doesn't get the kind of clout because they don't treat him like one of the big guns in media anymore and he has Parallax, as well as an active subset of the fandom who views him as outdated and better off deader than a doornail.

[Robanker]

I'm trying not to let shit like this sour my appreciation of John, but I'm getting tired at how the best ideas they seem to have every time we go into other media are to take from other characters or just shit on Hal/Carter to build him up. It's getting very, very old.

My favorite GL isn't even Hal, but I was really hoping this was just going to be John getting the ring after Hal died (or didn't) and stepping up to show why he's a great Lantern on his own. Instead, as usual, evil Hal.

[SiegePerilous02]

God damn and I thought Clark got it bad.

I've said it before, but if Clark, Diana and Dick Grayson aren't consistently safe from bad stuff, than Hal doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hell.

[Frontier]

Honestly comparatively I'd say Clark and Diana are pretty okay, at least moreso than I would've said before because Clark has his own TV show and cartoon coming up as well as some solid animated appearances while Diana is getting her own solo game.

None of which I would ever expect to get with Hal at this point.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Geez, what a shitshow.

The truly wretched redesign of John's usually awesome costume should have been the rip-off to all of us that this movie was going to be a disaster, but I kept hoping they could still manage something interesting.

Nope.

Pitting fandoms against each other is always a terrible idea. It only weakens the franchise. Alienating fans who might have otherwise enjoyed your product is so counterproductive, it should be common sense by now.

Yet...

Well, at least this leaked early so no one has to waste their money on this.

Such a shame, John Stewart has deserved a great solo film for years. To handicap him like this is simply idiotic.

[Johnny]

I should at least mention a funny moment, remember the "partial nudity" disclaimer for the movie? That's actually not about John, it's about Hal. Yes, you get a butt naked Hal Jordan in this movie right before he sends his ring back to Oa in the flashbacks. And yes, the ring John ends up wearing is Hal's former ring.

[Vordan]

To be honest I don't see them doing this with anyone but Hal because I could never see them doing a movie or cartoon where Sam Wilson has to kill a brainwashed nazi Steve Rogers or where Miles Morales has to take out an evil Peter Parker (unless it was pretty clearly an AU and not the real deal).

Hal doesn't get the kind of clout because they don't treat him like one of the big guns in media anymore and he has Parallax, as well as an active subset of the fandom who views him as outdated and better off deader than a doornail.

It’s not them making those guys evil, but putting the mantle holders against each other with the aim of elevating one while deprecating the other that I’m worried about.

I've said it before, but if Clark, Diana and Dick Grayson aren't consistently safe from bad stuff, than Hal doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hell.

In my mind he’s still an A-Lister so it’s just so damn weird to see him treated like this. He was neck and neck with Batman! They’d never do this to Bruce.

Honestly comparatively I'd say Clark and Diana are pretty okay, at least moreso than I would've said before because Clark has his own TV show and cartoon coming up as well as some solid animated appearances while Diana is getting her own solo game.

None of which I would ever expect to get with Hal at this point.

Clark’s doing better but there’s still Injustice and the SS game dumping on him to prop up Batman/Bat characters. He does have an advantage over Hal in that he gets more media products, that much is true. Of course there’s more “evil Superman” stories in general which corrode his brand even when they don’t feature him specifically.

I wish to make it clear that none of what I said was meant as any kind of attack on John, and only about DC's treatment of Hal done solely for the sake of propping up another character. As I said initially, I approached this with an open mind and I was hoping it would just be a good John-centered movie, and if you are a John fan you may very well end up thinking it is, but it's just not for me because what was done to Hal was so unnecessarily disrespectful.

I really like John and want to support him, wish they hadn’t gone this route. Only reason for hope I guess is maybe they’ll do an adaption of Spectre Hal, but I’m not holding my breath on that. At least the CoIE crossover trilogy coming next year might feature better takes on Hal.

[Gaius]

[SiegePerilous02]

Yeah, this sums it up.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

This just strikes me as a missed opportunity. I think John vs Hal showdowns are generally pretty interesting. The characters started with a tense combative relationship and grew into one of the more compelling, if underused, friendships in the GL franchise.

I'd love to see the John/Hal relationship explored and see what happens when it comes to blows. That sounds like great dramatic stakes.

However, pitting John against Hal, who have no prior relationship, against each other in 70 minute movie that's also got to establish Ollie, Hawkgirl, and Sinestro? That's a recipe for an undercooked mess in which one character is built up at the expense of the other.

I'm sure they'll be plenty of John fans who'll love this, and I'm happy for them, but this feels like a wasted opportunity to me.