The Green Lantern TV series currently in the works for HBO Max will, indeed, feature a gay version of the iconic DC Comics superhero. The show has been in the works for some time now but has finally been gaining some true momentum as of late. Finn Wittrock recently signed on to play Guy Gardner, just one of the versions of the character who will be part of the festivities. But another yet-to-be-cast actor will be playing a different version, who will be an open member of the LGBTQ community.
A new report dropped recently detailing Warner Bros.’ new Superman movie, which will be produced by J.J. Abrams and feature a Black version of the Kryptonian hero. Ta-Nehisi Coates is writing the screenplay. For that particular project. The report goes on to detail how committed the studio is to diversity with its packed lineup of upcoming DC projects, both on the big and small screen. The Green Lantern HBO Max show is then mentioned, with the report specifically noting that “HBO Max is casting for a gay Green Lantern character for an upcoming series.”
This serves more as confirmation as something that was already casually revealed previously. When writers Seth Grahame-Smith (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, The LEGO Batman Movie) and Marc Guggenheim (Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow) joined the project last year, it was confirmed that various members of the Green Lantern Corps such as Guy Gardner, Jessica Cruz, Simon Baz and Alan Scott will be featured in the show. Alan Scott is gay in the pages of DC Comics, so it was expected that would be a factor in the show as well. Even though this new report doesn’t specifically say that Scott is going to be the gay Green Lantern, that seems all but assured at this point.
Greg Berlanti, the architect behind the ArrowVerse on The CW, is producing the Green Lantern show for HBO Max. Specific plot details largely remain under wraps for the time being but it will span multiple decades, beginning in the 40s and leading up through the 80s. Sinestro has been confirmed as one of the main villains. Importantly, John Stewart and Hal Jordan, the two most famous names associated with the hero, are not expected to appear. Given that the Green Lantern Corps. movie is still in development, Warner Bros. could be saving them for the big screen. Though that project has been in the works for years and we haven’t had anything in the way of an official update in some time.
Warner Bros. previously adapted the DC Comics series into a movie in 2011. Green Lantern, which starred Ryan Reynolds in the lead role, was a major flop and is not held in high regard critically. This was just a couple of years before the studio decided to create its own cinematic universe to compete with what Marvel Studios had been doing. The hero has remained on the sidelines (in live-action anyway) ever since. We’ll be sure to keep you posted as any further details on the project are made available. This news comes to us via The Hollywood Reporter.
