No show or adaptation quite turns out how you’d expect, but the Green Lantern series coming to HBO Max may be going dark – and we don’t mean by introducing Black Lanterns right away.
According to a new exclusive coming from The Illuminerdi, their sources have allegedly informed them that “the Green Lantern series on HBO Max may be a bit darker than first imagined,” and will “apparently be akin to the Watchmen event series in tone.”
Watchmen was already a dark property to begin with, but the HBO Max miniseries was particularly dour, not to mention so racially charged in it themes that it sometimes bordered on satirical.
It did this, , to certain degrees, in service of both anti-police messaging and a dip into history to remind people of the Tulsa Massacre and Black Wall Street – all of which had nothing to do with Alan Moore’s original story.
Illuminerdi makes the guess that “this darker tone is sure to have a major impact on not only the series as a whole, but the portrayal of each character and their own stories.”
“Many of the Green Lanterns in the series are dealing with very real and sometimes very dangerous or difficult aspects of their lives especially in the era they live,” they note. ““With the series taking place over the course of three different time periods, there is also a chance that it will show the continued problems in the United States in each era.”
Right now not much is known about the series, but most reports and scoops, as mentioned above, indicate that the show will jump around two or three different timelines.
One of those will allegedly cover the new character Bree Jarta, a half-alien half-human woman of color who is partnered with Guy Gardner on Earth in the 1980s after growing up on another planet with a more intelligent culture.
Related — Alan Moore: Superhero Movies Infantilized and “Blighted Culture”
According to leaked information, Expect Guy, written as a married father of a young daughter, to be the representation of traditional family values, order, and white-male rage when the script calls for it.
Alan Scott will also be part of the proceedings, appearing in the 1940s and hiding his retconned sexuality -that was only made canon in the last few years – in the closet.
Jessica Cruz is in it too and will deal with fear and anxiety brought on by trauma in accordance with her origins. Her partner is Simon Baz who is predicted to struggle with xenophobia in a post-9/11 world.
Related: Letterer Jim Campbell Blasts DC Comics and Tom King for Watchmen Spin-off Series Rorschach
How this dark tone will affect Sinestro, Hal Jordan and John Stewart when eventually they turn up remains to be seen, but it should surely shrug off the camp of the 2011 film and the bright Greg Berlanti-produced cosplay hinted at in The CW’s Arrowverse.
Does this speculation sell you on what HBO Max’s plans for the Emerald Knights? I’d guess not, but surprise us with a comment below or on social media!