Lanterns Has Cast A Key Character For John Stewart's Story, And Now I’m Worried The Green Lantern Series Is Adapting A Heartbreaking Storyline From The Comics

Two Green Lanterns will be at the front and center of HBO’s Lanterns: Kyle Chandler’s Hal Jordan, the veteran ringslinger who’s approaching retirement, and Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart, the rookie who’s been recruited to replace Hal. We learned a few months back that Poorna Jagannathan (who confirmed that the Guardians of the Universe will appear in the series) is playing Zoe, who’s rumored to be John’s love interest. Now it’s been revealed that John’s mother will also appear in Lanterns, though unfortunately, this news immediately prompted me to wonder if the upcoming DC TV show will be adapting a heartbreaking storyline from the comics.

Nicole Ari Parker from And Just Like That…, Empire and Chicago P.D. has been tapped to play Bernadette Stewart in Lanterns in a recurring capacity. In addition to the actors mentioned earlier, her co-stars include Kelly Macdonald, Garret Dillahunt and Ulrich Thomsen, who’s playing Sinestro. Here’s the official description that was provided for Bernadette by Variety:

It’s unclear if Parker’s Bernadette will be directly involved in the main Lanterns storyline that sees Hal and John investigating a murder in the American heartland, or if she’ll instead appear in flashbacks about John’s past. Either way, it’s good to learn that we’ll be spending time with the woman who raised the younger Green Lantern into the fine young man he became. However, does this mean Lanterns will also delve into the tragic story of John’s sister?

In the current DC Comics continuity, and as covered in the Green Lantern: War Journal series that ran from 2023 to 2024, Eleanor Stewart died when she a child through unrevealed circumstances. In the present day, John’s mother, named Shirley in this universe, was suffering from Parkinson’s disease and forgot that Eleanor had been gone for decades. In order to not upset her with the truth, John created a construct of his late sister to interact with Shirley. The events of War Journal culminated in this version of Eleanor becoming a living, fully sentient construct.

Lanterns showrunner Chris Mundy came aboard the series with producers and fellow writers Damon Lindelof and Tom King in January 2024, when Green Lantern: War Journal was already several issues into into its run. So I by no means expect Lanterns to directly adapt what happens to Eleanor in the comic book series. However, the mention of insurmountable odds in Bernadette’s character description has me wondering if Mundy, Lindelof and King looked at those early War Journal issues when they started putting Lanterns together. If so, maybe they decided to put their own spin on Eleanor’s passing for this DCU entry.

Since Lanterns isn’t expected to premiere until early 2026, it’ll likely be a while before my theory is confirmed. However, assuming I’m on the right track, I’m curious to see how the death of Eleanor shaped John and Bernadette into the people we meet at the beginning of the series.