HBO Max's Green Lantern series to start over, as John Stewart takes over as the title character
The long in-development show is getting a full-scale makeover, with the departure of its writer and the arrival of a new central hero
The Brightest Day is continuing at HBO Max, with the news that the streaming service is overhauling its Green Lantern series, with a new Lantern familiar to comic book fans at the center of events. (No, it’s not Hal Jordan; sorry, Silver Age fans.)
According to reports, the series, which has been in development for three years, with Greg Berlanti attached as executive producer, is being reworked, with John Stewart — one of DC’s most high-profile Black characters, as well as one of its earliest Black heroes, having been introduced in 1972’s Green Lantern #87 — now becoming the focus of the show. It’s believed that Stewart was held back by DC when initially developing the series, but with the current changes at the top of DC’s multimedia plans, a number of things that had been in place are no longer the case.
Previously, the series was to center around Guy Gardner and Alan Scott, with Finn Wittrock and Jeremy Irvine already cast in the roles. It’s unclear whether the actors have been released from their contracts as part of the reorganization, but at least one figure from the previous regime is leaving: Seth Grahame-Smith, who had written all eight episodes of the earlier incarnation of the series. No details of a new writing staff, if one is even in place, have been revealed.
The Hollywood Reporter, which broke the story of the Green Lantern reorganization, notes that the changes to the show were made ahead of the arrival of James Gunn and Peter Safran as the new heads of DC Studios; the two new execs don’t officially start until November 1.
In its prior incarnation, the Green Lantern series had been teased as “the biggest DC show ever made” by Berlanti, with a budget of around $120 million. Given the show is essentially starting over from scratch, it remains to be seen just how big things are going to get.
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