There's always another rumor isn't there? Whether the rumor is that Stephen Amell is quitting Arrow or that Grant Gustin hates the fans there is always some sort of nonsense that comes with high profile superhero TV shows and movies. Most of the time they are unfounded but once in a while they turn out to be true. There were rumors that Ghost Rider would be apart of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 4 and that turned out to be true!
Not pictured - Nicolas Cage. So far off to a good start!
That's pretty exciting especially for a fan of the character (eh, well concept) like me! So . . . what's the latest rumor? Well there is talk of Green Lantern appearing during one of the DC CW shows, specifically Arrow, sometime this season. Is it going to happen? I truly doubt it. There have been hints and references to the comic books (and we'll get into that in a minute) but no true confirmation. But here's the thing - Green Lantern and the Green Lantern Corps would be an AWESOME addition to the DC CW-verse. Let's break down the best reasons shall we?
1) GREG BERLANTI IS A MEGA FAN
If you have watched any of the Berlanti Production shows like Supergirl, Arrow, The Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow then one thing is clear - Greg Berlanti is a fan first and foremost. Many films and TV shows have been produced by non-fans and generally the reaction is somewhat mixed. Sometimes they are good, but more often than not you won't see the same level of love that a fan would bring. If you get a true fan at the helm like a Christopher Nolan who loves Batman, Joss Whedon who grew up reading Avengers comics, and the Arrow guys that know Oliver Queen inside and out. Berlanti also knows Green Lantern. He was that dorky kid that loved comics and got picked on. Now look at him! He's producing four TV shows based on superheroes and he's making bank! Take that bullies! But seriously, he knows the Green Lantern mythos having written the script for the Green Lantern film, which may not sound like a vote of confidence but believe me, that film was far better in the scripting stage than what came out (which is sadly not uncommon). He was actually slated to direct the film but got held up on other projects. I'm sure a Greg Berlanti directed Green Lantern would have turned out a lot better, especially given how well all four of his TV Shows have turned out. Speaking of . . .
2) WHO DOESN'T LOVE A COMEBACK STORY?
Seriously? Who doesn't? Everyone thought it was a crazy idea to hire Robert Downey Jr to play Iron Man when he had such a troubled and public record. But then again, people were so curious to see what would happen that they were willing to give it a shot. And now? He's the face of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? The same goes for the Batman film franchise. After Batman and Robin everyone was convinced that the project was dead in the water. Then Christopher Nolan came around and proved that not only was Batman cool but there was still plenty of life left in the series and the character. Apply that to Green Lantern. Part of the problem with the film is that there is so much story shoved into it that it collapses under its own weight. That problem could easily be fixed with a TV series. There's much more time to get into the mythology and explore the characters, environments, and conflicts. Which brings us to . . .
3) THE MYTHOLOGY IS TOO BIG FOR A MOVIE TRILOGY
Not long ago when actors signed up for big budget superhero films they signed a 3-picture deal. Basically, if the first film was successful they would do two more after with an option to return for more sequels if they wanted. Ryan Reynolds and company probably signed on for something similar when Green Lantern was produced but that film flopped so they were contracted for other films produced by Warner Bros. I'm not totally an expert on these things but I do know that much.
As excited as I was for a Green Lantern film, and truthfully it will always have a special place in my heart, I was concerned that there was just too much story for a trilogy of films. Well, I was right. As I said before, the film collapses on itself by trying to put too much mythology and not enough character development into one film. If you've ever read the Geoff Johns run on Green Lantern (do it fucking now if you haven't!) then you know that there is WAAAAAAAY too much story for 6 hours to cover. But 13-23 episodes a year? That's more than enough! In the first crossover between The Flash and Arrow there was talk of the "emotional spectrum" where each color represents an emotion, so there is already somewhat of an established continuity in the DC CW-verse. It's not a stretch to bring this series to life what with the characters already familiar with bits of the lore.
4) IT KINDA SEEMS LIKE THE NEXT LOGICAL STEP
We started with Arrow, which a street crime drama, then The Flash which introduced superpowers and superpowered threats, then Legends of Tomorrow which introduced time travel and time travel adventures, and then Supergirl which brought in aliens, heroes that can fly, and all kinds of visitors from strange worlds. It seems to me that the next step would be to visit more of those worlds with one or two or more flying heroes acting as the police for outer space. That's the basic-basic gist of what Green Lanterns do anyway. So having these heroes fly around the galaxy fighting intergalactic threats and making friends on all kinds of different planets would be a really fun show. Plus, am I right? It just seems like another crime fighting show in the same vein as Arrow or even the Flash wouldn't be as special. And these guys seem to love trying to top themselves more than anything else! A Green Lantern series would be the best way they could challenge themselves and give us a unique and exciting new series. Well, unique-ish . . .
5) THE ANIMATED SERIES WAS A GREAT START
When the Green Lantern film went into production an animated series was ordered to accompany it. This is not an uncommon thing with big blockbusters. Look at Guardians of the Galaxy, The Amazing Spider-Man, and even the upcoming Justice League Action. It happens all the time. Unfortunately, since the film underperformed the series did not take off and only lasted 26 episodes. Which is a real shame because those 26 episodes are very well done. If a Green Lantern live action series were ever to materialize then this should be the format that they try to emulate. The series was 1/3 comic book excitement and adventure, 1/3 police procedural, and 1/3 Star Trek homage. The Star Trek homage was the most important factor I think for two reasons. 1 - it gave the characters chances to explore strange and new worlds and 2 - it could give lessons in tolerance, racism, sexism, violence, etc without being too preachy. Those types of issues are hot topics these days and a series that takes place in outer space with different cultures and species is a great way to mask those issues. Hmm . . . speaking of which . . .
6) DIVERSITY IS WHAT THE GREEN LANTERNS ARE ALL ABOUT
In a world where superhero movies and TV shows are mostly dominated by white males, a call for diversity has grown louder and louder. Luckily, Legends of Tomorrow has a very diverse cast and even tackled the issue head on during a trip to the 1950s. Green Lantern is a property that could very easily explore a diverse group of people and I'm not referring to the alien members. There's Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner and Kyle Raynor of course. But then again we have John Stewart, Simon Baz, and Jessica Cruz. They each represent a different culture and bring different values, morals, backgrounds, etc to the table. John Stewart was one of the first (if not the first) African American superheroes without the word Black in front of his name. The show will lend itself very easily to having a diverse cast and tackling those racial issues I mentioned earlier. While it's best not to be too preachy in an action/adventure/sci-fi series, sometimes it is necessary. Not because the audience won't understand but because, just like in real life, it needs to be addressed. Like I said before, racism and sexism are still hot topic issues in our country. In my opinion, it feels worse now more than ever thanks to the current political climate plus social media and news media. Every now and then, a fun series like this one can really give certain audience members a good kick in the pants. Not only that, but it's inspiring for young Muslim, Hispanic, African American children to watch a series like this and see that they can grow up to be heroes too. That's EXTREMELY important!
7) POTENTIAL FOR CROSSOVERS AND LEGACY HEROES
It has not escaped me that I just went on about diversity and then I showed a picture of a white guy. But that's neither here nor there . . . Anyway! Since Legends of Tomorrow is set to introduce the Justice Soceity of America and there are rumors that John Wesley Shipp's Jay Garrick will show up on that series, it wouldn't be out of the question to meet Alan Scott, the Green Lantern of (the CW-verse's) Earth 3. In the comics he was from Earth 2, but since Garrick said he was from Earth 3 on The Flash, then it's reasonable to assume other members of the JSA are there as well like Alan Scott. My guess is that, in keeping with diversity, they might adopt the Earth 2 comic book version of Scott where he was a homosexual. Or they could have multiple versions of Alan Scott! Either way, Scott in particular opens the door for more crossovers with the other shows since he fits into the idea of the multiverse (the Flash), the Justice Society (Legends), and his power is magical (Arrow). Even if for some reason the producers decided not to go with the Green Lantern Corps they could have Alan Scott and still open up story possibilities with him going forward.
8) LITERALLY THE MOST COLORFUL ROGUES GALLERY
One of the best things about Green Lantern comics is that the villains are literally very colorful. I previously mentioned how the Emotional Spectrum was discussed on The Flash. It goes like this: Red is Rage, Orange is Avarice, Yellow is Fear, Green is Will, Blue is Hope, Indigo is Compassion, and Violet is Love. Similar to my idea about diversity being a good topic to discuss with colorful characters so to is controlling your emotions. During Geoff Johns' Green Lantern run he had Hal Jordan experience almost every different type of color. He found it difficult channeling one emotion over the other which is a great metaphor for our daily lives. It's easy to get blinded by rage or consumed by avarice, but it takes real strength to have the Will to keep those emotions in check. Few people are good at it, which is why almost all of the Human Lanterns have defected to a different color at least once during their career. These other Lantern Corps are a relatively new concept to the comic books but one that has proven to be extremely popular. The characters within the Corps have proven to be just as exciting and complex, not to much as diverse, as the Green Lanterns themselves. Green Lantern the Animated Series even dealt with one of the Red Lanterns, Razer, joining with the Green Lanterns, albeit still under the influence of the Red. The series ended with the implication that he was becoming a Blue Lantern, giving us a great redemption arc.
But even the villains not associated with the Lantern Corps like Hector Hammond, Evil Star, Dr. Polaris, etc have proven to be capable foes able to go toe to toe with the Green Lanterns. Characters like Sinestro, Atrocitus, and Larfleeze, who are Lanterns, have had some of the best stories in comic books. They've proven so popular that they've received their own best selling comic book series. You know how often it is that a villain gets a starring role in a comic, let alone a series devoted entirely to them? Not often, not ones that last anyway!
9) THERE'S PLENTY OF HISTORY FROM THE COMIC BOOKS
Green Arrow, the Atom, Flash, and Green Lantern have all been mainstays on the Justice League at some point in the last 75 years. Depending on the era you are reading, there's a good chance that all four plus a few other members of the DC CW-verse have been on the team with them. Green Arrow and Green Lantern even starred in a long running and critically acclaimed comic book together. In the wonderful graphic novel Identity Crisis, Green Arrow even shares personal history that he has with the Atom, the Flash (Barry Allen), and Hal Jordan (Green Lantern). It's significant that they have had adventures together, survived tragedy together, and even survived tragedy without each other. There is a real history to the characters that is important to the story and the stories that came after it. That type of history somewhat exists with some of the characters in the CW-verse, but I think that Green Lantern is kind of the glue that can really bring them all together in a new and different way. His powers are much different and he's a different man than Oliver, Barry, Ray, etc. There is a different sensibility to his character that, for lack of a better term, is missing from these shows. And not even just Hal. The other Green Lanterns have much different relationships with each character. It's something that is currently being explored in the DC Universe Rebirth comic books with Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz. A new type of character dynamic is the best way to keep these stories fresh and exciting and plus seeing how Hal or the other Lanterns react in group situations vs solo missions is part of the fun of the crossovers and the regular standalone series. It's definitely something I love reading in the comic books and always puts a smile on my face. I have no doubt the producers and writers would make it fun to watch every week. Oh and that reminds me . . .
10) THE SHOW WOULD BE FUCKING AWESOME
Look at that picture. Look at it! That is by far one of my all time favorite comic book covers. It's amazing. I even have it signed by Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis, and Joe Prado (the writer, penciller, and inker of Blackest Night). I love it so much. Every time I wonder if Green Lantern and his world would make a great TV show I think of this picture. I will admit that a Green Lantern TV show would be tricky to say the least. I mean there is the expensive CGI, plus the make up for the alien characters, plus the multiple Green Lanterns to cast, write for, not to mention every other Corps out there. But COME ON!! Wouldn't it be great? Visually, I'm certain it would be spectacular especially given how The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow have turned out with cable TV budgets. I can't even imagine the stress that goes into figuring out how they are gonna make King Shark work as a villain for a full episode of The Flash let alone have Firestorm, the Atom, and the Hawks flying around fighting bad guys in almost every episode of Legends of Tomorrow. Yet somehow, they pull it off and it looks really cool. I have no doubt that Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, and Greg Berlanti could find a way to pull it off. Plus the best part is that the first 3 or 4 seasons have already been written! All they need to do is contact their good friend and my main man Geoff Johns and adapt his run! I mean seriously! Let's just do this already!
Little known fact about me - when I moved away from home and didn't have many friends in my new town I requested a subscription to Green Lantern as a Christmas gift. It wasn't long before this book became my favorite comic that I was reading on a monthly basis. Somehow every issue seemed to top the one before it and when Blackest Night, then Brightest Day, then the New 52 happened the book still remained on the top of my pull list. As excited as I was for the movie and even though it disappointed it still has a special place in my heart, I still firmly believe that Green Lantern and the whole Corps belong on TV. Given the wonderful track record already set forward by Greg Berlanti and his team with the DC CW-verse I think the GL mythos would be in good hands if they went forward with it. So . . . do it already!
Till Next Time!
JJ - The Comic Junkie!
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