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• Steve Englehart and Joe Staton re-invented DC Comics' Guy Gardner 40 years ago, and now they are finally getting the credit (and money) beginning with the Superman movie this year

This summer, millions of viewers were introduced to Guy Gardner. Nathan Fillion portrayed the obnoxious yet lovable Green Lantern in James Gunn’s Superman. The character will also be making an appearance in Lanterns, a 2026 superhero drama coming to HBO Max. The world is getting to know Guy Gardner, but what they might not know is the complicated history behind his creation - and for one comic writer, who believes he deserves credit for the character as we know it.

Guy Gardner first appeared in 1968's Green Lantern #59 by writer John Broome and artist Gil Kane. The character in that comic was almost nothing like the version of Guy we know today. He lacked his abrasive personality, his sarcastic wit, and perhaps most importantly, he lacked his signature bowl cut. Not only did the character sporadically appear for his first 17 years of publication, but he also spent much of that time in a coma after an injury in the Phantom Zone. 

Steve Englehart and Joe Staton dramatically refashioned the character for their '80s Green Lantern run, adding his signature look and giving Guy a new attitude. However, according to Englehart, DC’s policy was that reinventing this character isn’t the same as creating this character, so Englehart and Staton weren’t given any creator royalties, according to him, despite essentially revitalizing the character.

"... I decided to resurrect the lost GL, Guy Gardner, who had been terminally bland and then brain-damaged - a completely useless character, as things stood," Englehart said back in 2016 in Back Issue magazine. "I was being a good soldier, trying to help my friend Dick Giordano [then-DC VP and executive editor] sell the book, and it turned out to be the second biggest mistake of my career - because ever since, DC has claimed that since Joe and I didn't create the original Guy Gardner, our completely new take counts as nothing. If I had called the new guy Joe Smith, we should have earned major royalties, but as it is, we get nothing, and we get dissed by the people we helped. So adding it all up, I wish I hadn't done it."

But now, after 40 years, that has changed - apparently thanks to DC, the 2025 Superman movie, and the alleged threat of a public relations issue by Englehart. Recently, we caught up with Englehart, who shared with us for the first time how he and Joe Staton received what he felt was due.

“With [the Superman movie] coming out, I got in touch with [DC]," Englehart tells Popverse during an appearance at DragonCon 2025. "I said, ‘Look, I’m going to be telling this story about how you guys won’t pay us for Guy Gardner every time we’re asked about it. Do you really want that?’ And they decided that they didn’t, so now all four of us get credit for it. John Broome, Gil Kane, Steve Englehart, and Joe Staton, as I understand it."

Englehart says he isn't sure how this apparent new money will break down - essentially if the new revenue he and Staton expect to receive will mean a decrease in whatever Broome and Kane's estates might receive, or if it is similar to what he has experienced at Marvel as co-creator of Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Shang-Chi, Mantis, among other characters. 

“We’re supposed to get royalties. The one question I’ve had since we talked about this is, do we get all the royalties, or do they take half of the royalties and say we’re going to keep that money because those guys are dead, so we don’t have to pay. I don’t know how it works," says Englehart. "With Marvel, it’s a flat rate if you create a character. If Shang-Chi shows up in a movie, I get a certain amount of money. With DC, it’s always been a percentage of the gross of the thing.”

Popverse was unable to independently confirm that Englehart and Staton are currently receiving money from DC for Gardner, nor whether they are receiving royalties or some other payment structure. But one thing we can confirm is that Englehart and Staton are in the credits for the Superman movie, listed as one of many comic creators under the 'Special Thanks' section.

Also listed in the 2025 Superman movie's 'Special Thanks' are Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguire - who, in addition to creating Maxwell Lord, who appeared in the movie, contributed to Guy Gardner's evolution in their Justice League comics work as well.

For his part, Englehart says he is grateful for what the current DC management has done.

"For 40 years, until [current DC management] basically was adamant," says Englehart. "'No, nothing for Guy Gardner.' 'You didn’t create Guy Gardner, and we’re not giving you a dime.' But theoretically, 40 years of bullshit has come to an end," says Englehart.

From Englehart's perspective, he believes he intimidated DC ahead of the 2025 Superman movie, and he was able to get revised treatment for himself and Staton in exchange for not making the issue public. Now that Englehart is pleased with the resolution, he is now making the issue he had public, along with the alleged resolution.

Sounds like something right out of the Guy Gardner playbook. 

Enjoy our guides to how to watch the recent DCEU, the Arrowverse, and James Gunn's upcoming DCU.