When it comes to DC Comics' Green Lantern Corps, there are thousands of powerful members amongst their ranks, with Krypton’s very own Green Lantern, Jan-Al, proving why Superman can’t wield the full potential of a Lantern ring. Being the super swell guy that Supes is, fans might think he’d be perfect for becoming the ultimate will-powered hero, but if Jan-Al’s tragic story is to be learned from, Superman shouldn’t go anywhere near a ring if he can help it.
Seen way back in 2017’s Green Lanterns #28, by Sam Humphries and Eduardo Pansica, Jan-Al is first introduced in this issue as she leads a crew of Kryptonians on their very first colonization mission across the stars. Crashlanding on a nearby world, Jan-Al successfully keeps her people alive after a freak dust storm further destroys their ship, drawing the attention of a Green Lantern ring in the process.
Attracted to Jan-Al thanks to her willpower and her ability to overcome great fear whilst saving her crew, Jan-Al is then brought to a faraway world where Sector 2814 Lanterns of Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz have been misplaced in time and space. Getting into a scuffle with the other original Lanterns drawn there, Jan-Al accidentally begins to use her ring in a way that shows why Superman can’t have one.
Unfocused in her will and concentration of it, Jan-Al’s power levels begin to skyrocket, and as she loses control she explodes in a fiery green inferno, showing that even if someone has the will for making it as a Lantern, it doesn’t always mean said person should become one. And like Jan-Al, Superman is an upstanding, hopeful, will-fueled, and inspiring hero, so getting a Green Lantern power ring has happened to him before, just not in ways that have shown fans his true potential or that he'd survive to tell the tale in the first place.
Outside of getting a few non-Green Lantern rings in the past as well as during stories that take place outside of main DC continuity, Superman has been seen wielding a ring in the far future as Superman Prime (where he was more or less a being of pure energy), when he was subconsciously suppressing his powers (and undoubtedly his immense willpower as well), and during a long since past story where he uses his super-will to transfer Green Lantern Guy Gardner’s ring to his hand (temporarily). And if Jan-Al’s brutal experience being incinerated by her immense willpower as a Kryptonian can happen so easily, how could The Man of Steel possibly survive an ordeal where one of his biggest qualities could potentially kill him?
So while Superman may be capable of a great many feats in the world of comics, successfully wielding a Green Lantern’s power ring long enough to not spontaneously combust in a shower of sheer willpower and green sparks might be a tall order for the guy. Green Lanterns are powerful space cops in their own right, but Superman should stick to the super-heroics he knows best.