An exciting new chapter is about to begin for Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and John Stewart. With the Dawn of DC kicking into high gear, writers Jeremy Adams and Phillip Kennedy Johnson tease what readers can expect from the DCU's interstellar heroes.

When it comes to Green Lanterns, Hal and John are two of the most well-known ring-slingers. Hal was the first Earthling to join the Corps and shattered the organization's preconceived notions about humans. John later came in as the second Green Lantern of Earth and carved out his own place in the Corps' history. It's been some time since either has held down an ongoing, but the upcoming Green Lantern #1 will see both Hal Jordan and John Stewart head back to the forefront of the DC Universe. Jeremy Adams and Xermanico will tell Hal's story in the main feature with Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Montos showing John's tale in the comic's backup.

Screen Rant participated in a roundtable discussion with Adams and Johnson to hear both writers reveal what the future has in store for the DC Universe's two most high-profile Green Lanterns.

What can you tease about how Hal Jordan will grow and evolve through this story as Hal makes it back to Earth?

Jeremy Adams: What I can tease is that I think a lot of us, especially me, have this kind of delayed growing up period, where I was just having fun, I was doing my thing, etc. And then at some point, I started thinking about the future. I started thinking about "What is that future? What is family? What do I really want?" And I think that's something that Hal has to come to terms with. He's been out in space for a long time. He came back to Earth. But Earth is moving on without him. And how do you reconcile being out and seeing the wonders of the universe and then coming back home? And why is coming back home more important than maybe what you did out there? And so it's kind of about maturity, because Hal isn't particularly known for his maturity. I think there's this inflection point for everybody, where it's like "Oh, I have to grow up a little bit." And I think for Hal that can be hard, especially with how impetuous and fearless he can be.

What is it about returning to Coast City or his relationship with the city that seems to be such a frequent part of Hal Jordan-centric stories?

Jeremy Adams: I mean, talk about a city that's had its ups and downs! (laughs) It's the same way when I go to my hometown. It's home, and yet it's not home. And because Hal has left so many times, I don't think he's ever really come back and tried to plant roots in the same way that hopefully he does in this story. But you know, Gotham's got Batman, Metropolis has got Superman. Coast City is supposed to be Green Lantern. But it's a city that hasn't had that for a while. It's one thing to have a superhero. But a superhero who's on call for a giant sector of space? I'm hoping to explore that fact.

Phillip Kennedy Johnson: It's not my story, but I was gonna jump in and say the same thing. Like, it kind of makes sense for somebody like Hal, I mean, Batman's turf is Gotham, Superman's is Metropolis. But Green Lantern is Sector 2814, which is really big. And very often, there are these big adventures that take him way off Earth for an extended period of time. So it's almost like a deployment where they come back, and each time they come back, it's like "What's the world like now?".

Jeremy Adams: That's exactly right. And I think because Sector 2814 is quarantined and that he's here. There's a little more permanence to it. And hopefully reintegrating Hal into the rest of the DC Universe. I want to see Hal interact with other superheroes. I want to see him get into a verbal fight with Oliver. I want to see Hal because when I was growing up, you would see Hal, he would show up in all these different books. And that was awesome. I love that about the DC Universe; the interconnectedness.

Phillip, this question is for you. We had a teaser of the Bright Revenant in Dark Crisis: Worlds Without a Justice League - Green Lantern, but they're about to play a much bigger role. What can you tease about them and how they'll figure into things moving forward?

Phillip Kennedy Johnson: The Bright Revenant was the giant dead baby thing with wings from the Dark Crisis one-shot, and it was leading this thing called the Radiant Dead. A lot of the coolest villains, the most terrifying ones, are the big, broad thing that that infects, that corrupts, that absorbs, and assimilates. There's this big epic origin for the Radiant Dead that happened in this other universe. Starting a story in alternate universes is the best because you have all the same pieces on the board as we have in main continuity, and we get to combine them in other cool ways. I want to show how we get how we get a threat like the Radiant Dead, how it ties into the Green Lanterns, who's responsible, where it came from, what it could mean for our future. So I'm trying to find the DC Universe mythological take on things like zombies and the Borg. The thing that not just threatens us, but threatens to make us like they are. There's something just inherently creepy about that.

Jeremy, this question's for you. Hal's spent a lot of time off-world over the past few years. Where's his headspace as the series begins? And what's waiting for him back home? Does he even have a home anymore?

Jeremy Adams: I don't want to give too much of the mushy soap opera away. But his home really is Carol. His actual physical home is a junky trailer. Like I said he doesn't own much, so it's kind of him starting over. And his headspace is did he make the right decision what happened in space to send him back home? And we play with time, like we go from the present to the past, we also see how the world has moved beyond even him being a hotshot pilot, like that was a viable career opportunity when Green Lantern came out. And that's not where the future is going. So he has to contend with a lot of different changes and kind of reintegrate himself.

Phillip, question for you. Does Jon Stewart's recent power upgrade from the previous Green Lantern series play into the backup story and potentially his future ongoing?

Phillip Kennedy Johnson: It has the biggest influence on the story. We see now that John is capable of great things. John possesses great powers, not just from the ring, but from who he is. He's just inherently one who serves, and he's also possesses great strength. In a lot of ways, he's the perfect Lantern. The beginning of the series, it's going to be its own story that stands alone. But yeah, I'm just trying to make sure that people see the same character that Geoffrey Thorne showed us, I really want to develop the character of John but only in purely additive ways. I want to get to a more classic take on John and not so far from what people are used to seeing.

The next question is for Jeremy. But I also want to get Phillip a chance to provide some commentary on working with Montos on his story. Jeremy, Xermanico's artwork is fantastic. And so much of what makes the Green Lantern books so unique from other heroes is how Lanterns and their power sets are interpreted visually. How has working with Xermanico been on the title so far, and why is he the perfect artist for Hal?

Jeremy Adams: I could write the most garbage script ever, but Xermanico is so good, they look like a million bucks. When we were doing Flashpoint Beyond, he would send us these layouts, and we were just like "Are we ruining this guy's art with our words? Because it's so dang good!". I mean, he's literally a wizard. He's so great. Xermanico is my Green Lantern ring. He's making the constructs that I want to bring into being. It puts the pressure back on me because now I'm like "Oh crap, I have to start coming up with better and better constructs", because he's an 11 out of 10.

Phillip, what's it been like working with Montos on your story?

Phillip Kennedy Johnson: When they found Montos, I confess I did not know Montos' work. I checked it out, and I'm like "Wow, okay, this is this different". There's this epic poetry kind of feel to it like, this big larger than life gravitas to it that I just loved, and it fit John so well. When you first work with any artist, there's always this kind of feeling out period where you're trying to determine how much direction they prefer. And that first script I was just trying to see what they need, what they like, what their strengths are. Everything was better than I dreamed it could be. It was so good, so much detail. I love the respect that he gives the art, like to make everything feel like it's in the real world. But then when those fantastical, larger than life kind of moments. It feels just as real as the other stuff. That's awesome. I can't say enough good things about Montos.

Next question is for you, Jeremy, what's it like writing the dynamic between Hal and Sinestro, and how does that inform your book?

Jeremy Adams: How do I say things without spoiling them? The relationship is a huge, huge part of the Green Lantern mythos, obviously. I look at it very much like Pacino and De Niro in Heat. It's like a dangerous respect. But also, they know that they're on opposite sides of the fence. There's a lot of the mystery to why is Sinestro is on Earth. That's going to be unveiled. There's going to be a big first arc dynamic between Hal and Sinestro. But it's going to take a while to build up to that because I do want it to be a bit of a slow burn and there's reasons for that.

The series will understandably focus on Hal and John, but we do get a great moment with Kilowog in the first issue. How will the other Lanterns like Kyle, Jessica, and Jo figure into this story?

Jeremy Adams: Right now they won't because Sector 2814 is quarantine! (laughs) So when or if that happens, it's going to set off a larger piece of the story. But for the first part, it's very Earthbound, very Hal-centric.

Phillip Kennedy Johnson: There will be other characters. I shouldn't say any more than that.

Are there elements of the Green Lantern mythos that haven't been seen in a while that will be featured in either story?

Jeremy Adams: For me, we will be building to some of that because there's a lot of threads that I think are great and potentially explosive for the Green Lantern Corps and the Green Lantern mythology. If you remember at the end of Geoff Thorne's run towards the end, there was a moment where the Source was created and a Green Lantern turned into a different Lantern. So I think that stuff is interesting storytelling blocks, but I'm not going to be there yet. It's going to take me a bit.

Phillip Kennedy Johnson: My story's kind of getting down to basics. I feel like the Emotional Spectrum thing has been done very thoroughly. I am not inclined to do the Emotional Spectrum stuff at the moment. I want to make it more about who John is. I want to see like John discovering who he is. I'll say this: My influences on this story are not previous Green Lantern runs. My influences on this run, primarily, are '80s action movies. I draw on things like Tolkien's translation of Finn and Hengest. But now it's Predator and Terminator. I have a story like with a very clear, beginning, middle and end that I want to do and Predator and Terminator are the clearest influences.

The next question is for you, Phillip. What can you tease about the relationship between John and his mother? And how will this help John move forward?

Phillip Kennedy Johnson: His relationship with his mom and with his sister: those relationships are crucial for who John is. It's just another way of looking at his whole his identity being built around duty. One thing that Geoffrey Thorne told me about John is that he does not intend to be a Green Lantern forever. In Geoffrey's mind, he's going to do his time of service. And someday it will end, and then he's going to go on and do other things with his life. And I thought that was really interesting. It's hard to imagine Batman or Superman, or Flash or Green Lantern, or any of these guys in retirement, but that was Geoffrey's vision for John and that kind of gave me a whole new way of looking at that character. Like, what's what's going to be next for John? What are his other responsibilities in life? We all know about Flash's family, we all know about the Waynes, we know about Clark's crew. We don't know that much about John's family. So this is our chance to do it. His mother is probably his primary influence in his life. And we're gonna see some of that on the page.

For both of you, can readers expect more classic Green Lantern villains or new antagonists?

Jeremy Adams: For me, both. I love the fact the Silver Age just had some wacky, wacky villains, and I plan on exploiting that. But also some other ones because I think that some newer ones will play into some of the bigger plans we have for the book.

Phillip Kennedy Johnson: The answer is both for me too, but in a different way. It's going to be purely new villains. But we see that there's a threat that's actually been there for a long, long time. So it's a new to us villain.

Are Hal and John, in the same places, emotionally or mentally right now and is that comparison or contrast important to these stories in some way?

Jeremy Adams: Yes and no. It's like saying "Are Han Solo and Luke Skywalker in the same place mentally?". They're just different characters, and they have different motivations. But I do think there's overlap. And I do think that of the Green Lanterns, they are probably the most looked upon as leaders.

Phillip Kennedy Johnson: Yeah, totally agree. I think John is probably more introspective and will think about a situation. I think John is in a place that he's seen over and over, but never experienced himself. He's done his service, and now he's come home and has to learn to drive the speed limit again. I'm sorry for all the military comparisons, but it's apt in the case of John. John is figuring out what to do next.

Jeremy, what can you tease about Green Lantern's tie into the upcoming Knight Terrors event?

Jeremy Adams: I can tell you that this event that's supposed to exploit the fear of superheroes is all well and good until you meet up with somebody has the ability to overcome a lot of fear. (laughs) I never forget who I think Hal is and how I want to write him and I don't necessarily think he's afraid of anything, so that that plays into Knight Terrors, and it will make sense. I tried to do some EC comics-type stuff and just really kind of make it creepy and because it all this feels very like 1980s horror. And as a huge fan of all that, it was pretty easy.

Final question, Jeremy. What does the quarantining of Sector 2814 offer in terms of storytelling potential?

Jeremy Adams: That to me is the linchpin to a way bigger story. Weirdly, when I first started writing for DC, I had pitched a Green Lantern thing that had a very similar component. We, as a reader don't necessarily know what's going on out there and Hal as a character knows a little bit, but also he's removed from it. The hope is that what we start on Earth, and we get very comfortable with Hal's character, and we get comfortable with Hal being Coast City. But all that other black space out there is lurking and all the troubles out there are lurking. And you have a guy that used to be connected, and now he's not. And he's not entirely sure what's happening to his family and his friends and everybody out there in space. So it's a huge component to the second act that I want.

Green Lantern #1 goes on sale May 9th.