Almost all of the Justice Leaguers have been officially accounted for in the DC Extended Universe. Batman and Superman are leading the charge later this month in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, with Wonder Woman playing a key supporting role. Aquaman, The Flash, and Cyborg will also cameo, and all six heroes will come together for Justice League: Part One. Confusingly absent from the lineup is Green Lantern, who only has Green Lantern Corps scheduled for 2020. Fans have been wondering when they’ll see one of the Green Lanterns first appear, and now it’s official: it will be longer than previously assumed.
Acknowledging that the 2011 Green Lantern didn’t meet expectations, Warner Bros.’ president of creative development and worldwide production, Greg Silverman, told EW that they’re taking care to make sure to treat Green Lantern with the same care as the DC Trinity, but fans will have to be patient to get the payoff. He elaborated:
Every beat of the movie is not yet worked out. So there’s the possibility that he may or may not be in Justice League 2. For now, we felt that we were introducing enough characters that the best possible place we could put Green Lantern is some introduction in Justice League 2, or barring that, a movie after.
Although the first Green Lantern movie was intended to kick off the larger DC movie world, its underperformance at the box office and mixed-to-negative reviews put the kibosh on that, and Man of Steel instead performed that duty. So it’s understandable that the creative minds are making sure they get the character right for the DCEU. Since a Green Lantern is responsible for keeping all the planets in their designated sector safe, it can easily be explained that Earth’s Green Lantern is elsewhere in Sector 2814. If he’s involved with Justice League: Part Two, then he can head back to his home planet, but if not, we can follow him out in space during Green Lantern Corps.
Other than finding out when Green Lantern will show up, the other question on the minds of fans is exactly which Green Lantern, or Green Lanterns, they’ll see. Concept art briefly seen at last year’s San Diego Comic-Con indicated that Hal Jordan and John Stewart will be the main human ring-slingers, and the Green Lantern Corps movie has been reportedly described as a “Lethal Weapon in space”-type adventure featuring both of them. However, as far as the Justice League is concerned, it hasn’t been disclosed which of them will join the superhero team, if that even ends up happening. Still, even with this potentially long wait ahead, at least fans of the Emerald Knight can rest easy knowing that more effort is being taken this time to adapt him/them correctly.
With details still scarce on what to expect from the DCEU’s Green Lantern, moviegoers can, at minimum, look forward to Green Lantern Corps on June 19, 2020.
