In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape Finn Wittrock’s (American Horror Story) sight. That’s the news from Deadline. The Emmy nominated actor has been cast as ‘cocky alpha-male’ Guy Gardner for the upcoming HBO Max Green Lantern series.
The series takes a brand new approach to the Green Lantern mythos. It spans across time and space, featuring multiple Lanterns from Earth and beyond. The series begins with humanity’s first Green Lantern, Alan Scott, in the 1940s. In this version, Scott will be an FBI agent (and living a secret life, as a gay man in 1941). Guy Gardner will be set in 1984. “Wittrock’s Guy Gardner/Green Lantern is a hulking mass of masculinity, and, as rendered in the comics, an embodiment of 1980s hyper-patriotism. And yet, Guy is somehow likable.” Based on the DC characters, the series will feature many of fans’ favorite ring-slingers, as well as introduce new ones like Bree Jarta, a half-human half-alien Lantern.
The 36-year-old Wittrock has garnered 2 Emmy nominations for his work on American Horror Story and The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. He has also won awards for his work on stage. He also won a Theatre World award in 2012 for his role as Happy Loman in Death of a Salesman at the Ethel Barrymore Theater on Broadway.
It will be interesting to see how the series incorporates 80+ years of Green Lantern comic history. In the comics, Alan Scott’s Green Lantern was not a member of the Green Lantern Corps. Over the years DC has found ways to retcon Scott’s ring to have connections to the Corps, but he was always separate. Other Lanterns tied to the new series include recent newcomers Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz, as well as alien Lanterns Sinestro and fan favorite Kilowog.
The Other Lanterns
Missing from this list are 3 of DC’s best-known Green Lanterns. John Stewart, Kyle Rayner, and Hal Jordan served as Earth’s Green Lanterns from the Silver Age through the present. Stewart may be the best-known ring bearer with folks under 35, having been featured in the 2000s cartoon series Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. He also was reimagined for the CW’s Arrowverse as John Diggle (David Ramsey), although he didn’t get his ring until the very end of the Arrow series. Zack Snyder planned for Stewart to appear in Justice League, but Warner Brothers had him cut from the final version.
Artist Kyle Rayner served as the universe’s only Green Lantern for a period of time in the 1990s. After tragedy struck the Corps, the last Guardian of the Universe gave Kyle the last surviving Green Lantern ring. He served with distinction as part of the JLA and helped to restore the Corps. While never appearing in a live-action film or TV, he was the first Green Lantern to appear as part of the DC Animated Universe. He debuted in a 1996 episode of Superman: The Animated Series.
Test Pilot Hal Jordan was the first human to join the Green Lanterns in the comics. He debuted in Showcase Comics #22 in 1959. Jordan got his ring from a dying alien, Abin Sur. For many fans, he is the Green Lantern and has been called the greatest of all the Green Lanterns by the Guardians of the Universe. Ryan Reynolds starred as Hal Jordan in the 2011 feature film version of Green Lantern. Audiences reacted poorly to the film. It was widely reviled, even by the star himself.
The Green Lantern series, expected in 2022 on HBO Max, is produced by Berlanti Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.
