The cast of HBO Max’s Green Lantern series may have been chosen for a reason that may have to do with the Green Lantern Corps film. The HBO-branded service will be bringing several iconic Lanterns to life in the Greg Berlanti-produced project as the show recently got a series pick-up. After a long wait since the initial announcement in 2019, HBO Max is going forward with the DC drama which will consist of 10 episodes for the first season. As exciting as the reveal was, it came as a surprise that Green Lantern will feature not one, but four popular Emerald Knights.
Aside from Sinestro, who was already revealed to be part of the show, Green Lantern will also star Alan Scott, Jessica Cruz, Simon Baz, and Guy Gardner. While the series is proceeding, there’s still little to no word about what’s going on with the Green Lantern in the DCEU as the feature film has been in active development for years. Even when the series was announced, it was reported that Green Lantern Corps was still a major priority. But as DC’s cinematic universe is moving forward with other characters, Green Lantern is still nowhere to be seen as of yet. However, given that the TV show is on a major platform like HBO Max, could the two projects somehow be connected?
Given how long it took for HBO Max to unveil the characters, it may have had to do with the film in some regard. Ever since Arrowverse's Crisis event brought together two Flashes of different worlds, the idea of DC’s films and TV shows somehow connecting is more possible than ever. HBO Max is even developing a Gotham P.D. inspired series that is set in the world of The Batman and recently gave a straight-to-series order for John Cena’s Peacemaker as a The Suicide Squad spinoff. With those opportunities presented, Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps could take a similar path by taking place in the same universe.
Green Lantern Corps is About Hal Jordan and John Stewart
Since the early days of Green Lantern Corps being put into development, the only thing that is currently known about the DCEU film is that it’ll follow Hal Jordan and John Stewart. Those two are some of the longest-running and most beloved Lanterns in the entire mythology. While the 2011 live-action film followed Hal’s origin story, the reboot will necessarily depict him in a different way. Green Lantern Corps would instead center on an older Hal taking Stewart under his wing as the veteran Lantern mentors the newbie. Reportedly, the film would also include a lot of other Lanterns that would be part of a team that Hal and John lead.
Even if the film hasn’t progressed too far in the last few years, it definitely seems like Warner Bros. is not giving up on the duo’s feature film. It’d explain why the Arrowverse have still not been able to incorporate any of the Lanterns, especially John Stewart as Diggle feels like a reimagined version of Green Lantern while still being an original character. While the DCEU is certainly readjusting after 2017’s Justice League, it’s hard to imagine that something as major as Green Lantern Corps would be scrapped after all these years. But given that they’re not part of the TV show’s line-up, that might indicate that the DC film is still alive to some degree.
The Green Lantern TV Show Is About Other Green Lanterns
While it’s early in the process, HBO Max has given fans a better idea of what they should expect with their Green Lantern series. The official show synopsis teases that it’ll be “spanning decades and galaxies” while focusing on the announced characters. With someone like Alan Scott, known as the Golden Age Green Lantern, the TV show could feature him in his own timeline when he served as Earth’s first Emerald Knight. As far as Jessica Cruz, Simon Baz, and Guy Gardner go, they’re likely to be the present timeline’s focus along with Sinestro. The idea that Green Lantern would focus on multiple timelines helps them amplify their storytelling methods.
Even with someone like Sinestro, his origin story could be told via Alan’s days as a Green Lantern while in the present he’s an antagonist to the trio. But to see how he gets there through working with Alan would be a refreshing layer. More details will likely begin to emerge as casting starts to roll out. Currently, the TV show is looking to premiere in 2021 which means filming would have to begin early next year. But with the line-up that they’ve revealed, it seems like they were specifically chosen as they’d have otherwise featured Hal, John if they were available, or even Kyle Rayner who is missing from both projects currently.
How The Green Lantern Movie & TV Show Can Fit Together
With the two projects’ respective line-up established, how could they ultimately connect? Since the TV show mostly consists of some of the younger members, the first season could focus on how they handle being a Green Lantern. Green Lantern could mimic how Disney Plus' Ms. Marvel will see Kamala Khan become the titular hero before she eventually appears in the MCU films. The TV Lanterns could be introduced before teaming up with Hal and John in potential future installments of Green Lantern Corps. If they wanted to, the first season could even allude to what Hal and John are up to without them having to take the spotlight.
Since Green Lantern Corps is reportedly going to "reimagine the team," it already sets up a way for the TV characters to join them down the line. The first film should naturally focus on Stewart and Jordan's relationship, assuming they're sticking to the original concept. Since HBO Max is working heavily with the feature side of Warner Bros.' DC films, it enables them to work out timelines as well as how the show and film would fit together naturally. Whether Green Lantern season 1 takes place before the events of Green Lantern Corps or vice-versa is irrelevant because the plot could easily have the two groups be spread across the universe on their own missions. Eventually, something affecting all of them could be what brings them together, whether it's on the TV show or in the film franchise.
A way to include Kyle Rayner would be if he becomes the crossover character between the two properties as he's interesting enough not involved with either one right now. If Warner Bros. is going to these lengths to introduce pretty much every famous Green Lantern in live-action, then Kyle can't be far away. A possible scenario would be that Kyle is actually already out there on his own adventures but ends up facing something that forces him to bring together the other Lanters. If the HBO Max drama and the DCEU film were to connect, it'd be a unique way for Warner Bros. to build up to iconic storylines like Blackest Night and Sinestro Corps War. By letting the Green Lantern mythology be fleshed out within both projects, it makes it more organic to eventually get to those bigger comic arcs. If there is a time where Hal, John, Alan, Simon, Jessica, and Guy are in live-action at the same time, it'd be a wasted opportunity to not connect Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps in one way or another.
