James Gunn's DCU gave the Green Lantern suit a makeover that undoes typical DC canon for the better. Lanterns wrapped up its well-regarded Season 1 run on HBO at the start of October, giving DC Studios a much-needed win after Supergirl didn’t stick the landing in theaters this past summer. Part of what made the show special was its take on Green Lantern lore, introducing Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) to this universe. But that take didn’t resemble classic DC Comics stories, and there’s a real argument it’s for the better.
John finally took flight as a Green Lantern in the closing moments of the Lanterns Season 1 finale, "Dirt and Stars," after recharging his ring with a brand-new, one-of-one oath.
But instead of suiting up, emitting green light, he slowly soared off in his regular, everyday clothes. So, yes, John's big Green Lantern "costume" is just his black leather jacket, devoid of all color.
That's a big difference from DC Comics lore, where a Green Lantern's power ring typically creates their uniform right from the start. And no matter what John wears next, his DCU origin will forever be defined by his street clothes outfit.
What HBO decided was that ditching a tradiotion superhero suit-up scene lets John's final next step feel natural, and as showrunner Chris Mundy explained on The Midnight Boys, ending with him flying "as his own man" just "felt like the most poetic:"
"There are drawings out there in the world, that's for sure... Yeah, we talked about it a lot, a lot at the beginning, but just by the evolution of the story, that wasn't...
We could have had him get a suit at the very end, but it felt more like him flying on his own as his own man, [which] mirrored Hal in a way. That doesn't mean he won't have a suit, but in where our story ended, that just felt like the most poetic."
Mundy also confirmed with CBR that John's suit was designed early on alongside Hal's, and fans "probably would have seen it" had the season kept going. Good thing this is not the last anyone will see John in the DCU.
There's an argument to be made that the MCU's Disney+ shows have trained a lot of comic book movie and TV fans to expect a suit in the finale. But it's not like one is actually needed, nor does it always actually suit the character.
Going suitless was the better call for John and the show's tone, which prioritized characters and grounded narrative arcs over spectacle. Look no further than Hal's suit, which was barely worn and was a minimal design compared to other Green Lantern interpretations.
Also, the beauty of the DCU, as just seen with the small-scale, scary Clayface film, is that each project has a certain level of spectacle, and Lanterns wasn't interested in being a typical big-budget superhero show.
10 years after training under Hal, John is just starting his true Lantern journey and isn't even working for the Green Lantern Corps or the Guardians. He wields an unsanctioned Lantern, and he tells Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) to think of him more as an "independent contractor."
That bold decision, coupled with a run-of-the-mill suit reveal, wouldn't have matched anything Lanterns built, and now it gives fans something else to look forward to.
Holding off builds anticipation for John's reappearance in James Gunn's Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow, which hits theaters on July 9, 2027. A full suit reveal is expected there, and after a season of subdued Green Lantern constructs, it will be fun to see this new hero let loose with Gunn's color palette.
How Will John Stewart's DCU Suit Look?
When John suits up in Man of Tomorrow, odds are the design will be uniquely his, probably not looking too much like Hal's or Guy's Green Lantern suits. That would fit a hero Lanterns co-creator Tom King called an "utterly unique creation that he chose for himself."
It might not even be a purely Green Lantern suit. King also confirmed John isn't fully a Green Lantern anymore, since the lantern powering his ring, forged by Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen), is infused with yellow fear energy.
DC Studios concept artist Ed Natividad even revealed that the battery is called a "Dark Lantern," complete with yellow veins cracking through its dark casing.
So don't be shocked if John's Man of Tomorrow look borrows some of that darker, yellow-tinged energy instead of going full Green Lantern. Hopefully, the suit reveal will be soon, potentially as early as the end of this year, when the first Man of Tomorrow trailer could release.
