Lanterns creator Tom Kong explained what’s really going on in John Stewart’s new position as the Green Lantern of Earth. The Lanterns’ finale, which premiered on HBO Max on October 4, completely changed the DCU forever by confirming that Kyle Chandler’s Hal Jordan is truly dead and John Stewart is building his own Lantern identity from a complicated setup. The finale revealed that Noah (who was revealed to be a Manhunter) broke Sinestro out of prison and brought him to Antaan’s ruined homeworld to forge a charging lantern. This battery was not a Guardian issue since it was built on a planet soaked in fear, and Sinestro later told John that fear can be used rather than denied.
The final moments of Lanterns revealed a pivotal confrontation between John Stewart and Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion). As expected, Guy rejected the unsanctioned battery and told John to take the ring off Hal’s body. John declared that he would serve as the Green Lantern of Earth, with neither the Green Lantern Corps nor the Guardians giving orders. He then sent Guy off with a message to the Guardians to leave him alone. John Stewart’s decision to be a self-appointed Green Lantern of Earth definitely has massive ramifications across the DCU.
Speaking in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lanterns creator Tom King confirmed that John Stewart is not 100% a Green Lantern because Sinestro made his power battery with yellow and fear in it, emphasizing that he is his own completely unique creation and the classic Green Lantern oath doesn’t technically apply to John:
“John is not a hundred percent a Green Lantern anymore. He has an unsanctioned lantern that has a bit of yellow and a bit of fear in it. So he’s not saying the same oath as every other Green Lantern — just like a Yellow Lantern or an Orange Lantern says something different.”
King also said that John getting his own unique oath “seemed to line up very much with the lore” and what Lanterns had established in Season 1:
“John is this utterly unique creation that he chose for himself. So getting his own unique oath seemed to line up very much with the lore and where we’re going from here.”
John Stewart’s rewritten oath changes everything, citing the battery he charges on as much as the words he says. The oath takes fear in as fuel, and it binds him to a lantern rather than to the Guardians.
“In brightest day, in darkest night, I embrace my fear, I’ll do what’s right. I choose this ring, I choose this fight, in service to this lantern’s light.”
In DC Comics, each corps swears a different oath because each draws on a different emotion. Tom King and the Lanterns team are using that premise without utilizing John as a member of the Sinestro Corps. The Lanterns’ finale clearly showed that John still has a green ring and green energy, with the show framing it as John stepping out of every chain of command he has served (including his parents, the Marines, the Guardians, and ultimately, the Green Lantern Corps).
Some believed that John Stewart would turn out to be part of the Yellow Lantern Corps due to Sinestro forging his own battery laced with fear in the finale, but Lanterns has clearly emphasized that he is his own unique creation unless there’s a twist down the line that places Stewart in a unique position tied to the Yellow Lanterns.
In DC Comics, specifically in an alternate future in Green Lantern: Earth One, the green rings fail, and John takes up a yellow one to help stop the last living Oan and an army of Yellow Lanterns drawn from Qward and former Corps members. Following Hal Jordan’s sacrifice to end the threat, Arisia Rrab, former leader of the Green Lantern Corps, convinced John to keep the ring, seemingly implying that he wants him to rebuild the Yellow Lanterns as a force for good now that the green light is gone.
It is unknown whether the DCU will pull the trigger on transforming John Stewart into a Yellow Lantern in future stories, but the finale made it clear that he is still a Green Lantern with a unique origin stemming from his different oath and his acceptance of fear as an advantage rather than a weakness.
Why Lanterns’ Latest John Stewart Decision Is Best for His DCU Future
Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart is set to return in Man of Tomorrow, and his big-screen debut marks his first big test as he teams up with the rest of the established DCU heroes as they go up against Brainiac and his threat of invasion on Earth. The Lanterns finale made Stewart one of the most intriguing characters in Superman 2.
Lanterns’ decision to leave John Stewart between colors is the best setup the DCU could have given him, because it makes him unique and positions him as a lead. A straight Green Lantern ending would have folded him back into the hierarchy led by the twisted perspective from the Guardians.
Swearing the old oath on a sanctioned battery would have undone the point of the entire show. Meanwhile, a full Yellow Lantern turn would have been the other trap because it would have trapped John inside someone else’s corps again.
By having the freedom of being an unsanctioned Lantern, John can easily meet Superman and work with him to defeat threats without needing permission from the Guardians and without being bound by rules. He can also clash with Guy, but they can also work together because they are protecting the same sector.
All in all, John Stewart’s DCU future is bright because it gives him limitless storytelling potential that could expand the Green Lantern lore in exciting ways.
