Did James Gunn Just Tease New Green Lantern’s DCU Debut?

DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn has a number of characters on the way for the new DC Universe, which seemingly includes the Green Lantern.

Although the biggest names from Warner Bros.' (WB) catalog of heroes have taken the spotlight in the former DC Extended Universe, one hero that hasn't gotten his chance to shine yet is the Green Lantern. After Ryan Reynolds' ill-fated solo movie from 2011 brought Hal Jordan to life on the big screen, the Lantern hasn't been a part of any live-action story in any subsequent DC stories in the last decade.

The Alan Scott and Guy Gardner versions of the hero were close to making their own debut in the DC Universe recently, although the Green Lantern Corps show was delayed as it changes its focus to John Stewart as a leading character. But the fact remains that any version of the Green Lantern remains notably absent from DC movies or TV shows, and there are no indications for when that may change.

But now, that may be on its way to changing according to the latest reports from DC's new top man, James Gunn.

James Gunn Hinting at Green Lantern's Arrival?

DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn hinted that the Green Lantern isn't far from taking his place in the new era of the DC Universe.

Twitter user @UnoTheReverse replied to a post from Gunn that showed DC's biggest characters celebrating Thanksgiving, noting that the Green Lantern wasn't in the picture. This led him to believe that Gunn and co-CEO Peter Safran "have no intention of adding that character into the DCU" in the near future:

"No Green Lantern in this image therefore I can confidently claim that Gunn and Safran have no intention of adding that character into the DCU, this is a scoop i am 100% confident in

Gunn quickly responded to that Tweet, making it clear that that report was "probably not a good scoop" while wishing the user a Happy Thanksgiving.

This comes after reports indicated that Warner Bros. had changed the plan for the upcoming Green Lantern Corps show, switching the main character to John Stewart from the initially planned Alan Scott and Guy Gardner. 

Initially, Stewart wasn't an option for the series, but that plan changes once former President of DC Films Walter Hamada exited his position. Reportedly, Gunn and Safran had no influence on the decision.

As part of that change, the budget for the Green Lantern show was expected to go down significantly from its initially planned $120 million tag, a change that came with Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav's plan to save on costs.

When Will the Green Lantern Join the DCU Story?

Being one of the founding members of the Justice League, it's shocking that the Green Lantern hasn't had a bigger role in DC's interconnected universe up until now. In truth, he's been relegated to only a couple of small cameos in both versions of Justice League with no true plot line or stories in which to shine.

Thankfully, James Gunn appears to have plans to rectify this issue in the near future. Even more exciting is that the DC Studios head has more than a handful of potential Lanterns to utilize in starring roles, including Hal Jordan and John Stewart amongst others.

The big question now is whether the hero will arrive in his own HBO Max show, a new big-screen movie, or even both as Gunn and Safran work out what the DCU will look like over the next few years. And according to Gunn, fans should be hearing more details on that front after the turn of the new year as hopes for the Green Lantern's arrival continue to build.