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It's never been cool to be a Green Lantern fan, at least in the eyes of a mainstream culture that doesn't know who Jo Mullein is - yet. The poorly-received Ryan Reynolds Green Lantern movie, with its ugly, striated, CGI Lantern suits, hasn't helped either. But still, Green Lantern fans have remained strong over the years, earnestly believing that one day we can get a proper live-action Green Lantern project. 

Fans, and noted Green Lantern writer, Grant Morrison, bristled, however, when Damon Lindelof, the co-creator of DC Studios and HBO's upcoming Lanterns show, said on the Lovett or Leave It podcast, "It’s called Lanterns because we all agreed that the ‘Green’ was stupid, so now it’s just Lanterns.”

On their Substack, Grant Morrison wrote, "TV writer/producer Damon Lindelof’s comments notwithstanding, the ‘Green’ in ‘Green Lantern(s)’ green is not ‘stupid’. Why does a writer attach himself to this kind of narrative if he thinks it’s fundamentally ‘stupid’? You don’t hand CSI scripts to patronising writers who condemn forensics experts and their haircuts as ‘stupid’, so why hire people who are ashamed and in denial about the comic book material they’ve been assigned to develop? Why don’t they turn down jobs they’re not suited for? It’s not like he needs the money, and Lindelof has proven that he can come up with his own ideas. What is this jockish dismissal of superhero conventions intended to prove anyway? Does Lindelof imagine it makes him seem less nerdy? It’s a bit too late for that, so what’s it all about? The only people who give a fuck about the Lanterns TV series are Green Lantern fans. Why alienate them at the start? That feels more like ‘stupid’." 

Now, Damon Lindelof has apologized for his comments in an Instagram post. Accompanying a photo of Lindelof wearing a Green Lantern shirt at Comic Con panel in 2004, Lindelof wrote, "I have upset Grant Morrison, which means I have now pissed off MOST of the brilliant British/Scottish comics writers that I grew up idolizing. To quote the bard (Otis Redding), this is nobody’s fault but mine. I made a dumb joke on a comedy podcast. I’m not going to bob and weave about context, the joke was dumb, the fandom is not. I owe them an explanation and a genuine reflection of my actual feelings." 

Continuing on, Lindelof noted that the first time he appeared on a panel at Comic Con was in 2004, he wore his favorite t-shirt: his Green Lantern shirt. "For a quiet, uncoordinated kid, there was nothing cooler than a hero whose superpower was his imagination. And green is not stupid, it is my lifelong favorite color and I have a questionnaire that I filled out in third grade to prove it. Green is fucking awesome." 

"More importantly, it would be a betrayal to everyone I worked for and alongside to say anything other than I was absolutely honored to be a part of the team that manifested the incredible construct that is Lanterns… because it was. I was sloppy and careless with my words, ironic considering I care so much about Hal, John and the entire Corps. I can and will do better to be worthy of the oath… until then, I’ll let the show speak for itself and I can’t wait for you all to hear what it has to say." 

As a grown adult who earned a bravery medal for going toe-to-toe with a group of Gen Z-ers, arguing that Green Lantern actually is cool, I accept Lindelof's apology. Let's remember, Lindelof wrote Prometheus and was the showrunner of HBO's Watchmen series. He's got chops. 

Lanterns will be released on HBO beginning in August. 

Shine a light on our list of the best Green Lantern comics.