Lanterns Episode 1 left behind a rather confusing mystery as Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner seemingly broke the one Green Lantern at a time rule, or did they? For the first time in 15 years, since Ryan Reynolds' Green Lantern tarnished the brand forever, DC Studios is diving into the Emerald Knights' mythos again, this time on TV and streaming in HBO's Lanterns. The eight-episode epic features three Green Lanterns (Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan, Aaron Pierre's John Stewart, and Nathan Fillion's Guy Gardner) as they solve a mystery across 2016 and 2026.
Warning - The rest of this article contains spoilers for Lanterns Episode 1.
The grand twist on that premise arrived at the climax of Lanterns Episode 1, in which John found Hal dead, missing his ring. Thanks to Superman, fans already know that Guy has become a Green Lantern and co-founded the Justice Gang by the present-day DCU in 2026, setting up a larger mystery of succession, especially as John was already being trained as Hal's replacement when the story began.
This seemingly breaks the one rule that has been established about the Green Lanterns in the DCU: only one can wear the ring. If Hal was active as Green Lantern at the time of Superman, this would go against the idea of each sector of the galaxy only having one protector from the Corps. However, there could be an explanation for this supposed inconsistency.
How Did Guy Gardner Become A Green Lantern - DC Comics Vs. DCU
Even after appearing in Superman and Peacemaker Season 2, soon to be followed by Lanterns, Mister Miracle, and Man of Tomorrow, fans don't know much about Guy Gardner and how long he has been active in the DCU.
In Superman, Guy tells the Man of Steel that he is "exactly the kind of alien threat that [he] was commandeered by the Green Lantern Corps to protect this planet against." That implies that, like John Stewart and unlike Hal Jordan, he was selected by the Guardians, not the Power Ring, to become a Lantern.
Nathan Fillion confirmed on the DC Studios Podcast last year that Guy was "hit by a bus and was in a coma," resulting in a "little bit of brain damage" and him becoming the arrogant and self-absorbed superhero that he is today:
“Part of his origin was he was, at one point, hit by a bus and was in a coma... So I just say that's the thing that flipped the switch. That's the thing that caused a little bit of brain damage. Now he's just...off a little bit."
A report from Entertainment Weekly confirms that Guy continues a trend of Green Lanterns being "everyday people," as he was a gym teacher before the ring. It seems the DCU is somewhat closely adapting Guy's origins in DC Comics, in which he was a gym teacher who saved his student, who was in grave danger on a collapsing bridge, and was severely injured by a bus in the process.
But there's a little more to Guy's origins than that, as he was equally chosen by the same Power Ring, belonging to Abin Sur, as Hal Jordan, but was only passed over because the test pilot was physically closer. As a result, Guy became Hal's backup and actually got his own ring when the Guardians of the Universe decided to expand the Green Lantern Corps in Sector 2814 (which includes Earth).
Classically, the Guardians of the Universe had a rule of only one Green Lantern per sector, but expanded to allow for two (a primary and a backup) due to elevated cosmic chaos in the region. That rule of two would later expand to allow for as many as eight space-cops in the regions, including Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, John Stewart, Jessica Cruz, Kyle Rayner, Simon Baz, and more.
There's no telling how long Guy has been a Green Lantern before he appears in Superman, but one has to imagine he was somewhat experienced before Maxwell Lord chose him to join and lead the Justice Gang. As Lanterns certainly implies that Hal had only recently lost his ring, possibly straight from his corpse, it appears there was a period when both he and Guy were active Emerald Knights.
Why Guy Gardner, Not John Stewart, Took Over Hal Jordan's Ring in HBO's Lanterns
Lanterns co-creator Tom King may have challenged the notion that Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner broke the Green Lantern Corps' rule of two. Speaking on the HBO series' official podcast, King solidified that "Hal is dead" when he appears in the 2026 timeline, John Stewart isn't wearing his late mentor's old ring, and, most interestingly, "Guy has the ring," leaving the mystery of how and where he got it:
"At the end of this episode, Hal is dead. But also, you see John's hand; he's not wearing that ring. Guy has the ring. So why does Guy end up with the ring, and where do we go after this, 'cause this moves us forward."
The DCU has confirmed that Guy became a Green Lantern between 2016 and 2026, and he may have leapfrogged John to become Hal's replacement. While one could speculate that, as in the comics, the Guardians expanded their roster over those 10 years, King's comment indicates that Guy took his place.
Guy also mentions in Lanterns' Weeks Ahead trailer that "the first time [he] met Hal Jordan, he was in jail too, after the s***show the two of you put on." That may suggest that, due to the 2016 events that are yet to unfold, Hal was imprisoned by the Green Lantern Corps, leading to Guy's appointment.
To summarize: in 2016, Hal Jordan is Earth's only Green Lantern, and he is reluctantly training John Stewart as his potential replacement. Fast forward to 2026, Hal is somehow dead, John doesn't seem to be a Green Lantern, and Guy is Earth's Emerald Knight, all with only one Power Ring seemingly in the equation.
That nugget of information is bound to spark some confusion, as the ring that has appeared throughout Lanterns' marketing is clearly different from the one seen on Nathan Fillion's hand in Superman. Then again, James Gunn has been clear in the past that the DCU has no "company style" and every creative team is free to build its own aesthetic, so this may be a design decision for the exact same ring.
The answer to John being passed over may all link back to the big bad of the Green Lantern mythos, Sinestro, Hal's original mentor, who went rogue and formed the Yellow Lantern Corps, seemingly landing him in prison ahead of Lanterns.
Showrunner Chris Mundy previously discussed the "coaching tree" and how Sinestro's mentorship, "good or bad," influenced Hal. If the Guardians are worried about what Hal may have picked up from his now-evil teacher, concerns may have similarly grown about John, as his training is the fruit of a poisoned tree.
At one point in Lanterns' trailer, John seems to have created a Green Lantern version of the Bat-Signal to summon a rather angry-looking Guy. All signs suggest that Hal and John will do something in 2016 that greatly angers the Guardians, and they may be using Guy as a pawn in their conflict to take them on.
It stands to reason that Hal and John will form a bond and grow closer during the 2016 events, which may cause the Guardians to backtrack on their original succession plan and bring in Guy instead. That may even connect to why Hal is dead, as the Guardians may have been the ones to have him killed, which isn't out of the question given how eager they clearly are to replace him.
Why Is Guy Gardner So Important to James Gunn's DCU?
Nathan Fillion and James Gunn are longtime friends going back to their collaboration on 2006's Slither. As fans will be well aware, Gunn loves to cast his closest Hollywood friends in his projects, which has resulted in Fillion featuring in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Suicide Squad, and now, Superman and the entire DCU, thanks to his recurring role as Guy Gardner.
Given that next year's Man of Tomorrow is expected to feature both Guy and John, a second Power Ring is going to need to appear from somewhere in Lanterns. That will allow for Sector 2814 to have two Emerald Knights going forward, with the HBO series perhaps having the Guardians offer up another ring to combat whatever threat is coming, allowing Guy and John to tackle it together.
Fans recently learned that Fillion will reprise his DCU role again in the Mister Miracle animated series, marking his fourth appearance. The choice is a strange one as Gardner isn't in the Tom King comic storyline that DC Studios is adapting with the show, but ultimately makes sense to add connective tissue to the DCU.
Currently, the DCU doesn't have much of an overarching narrative or a supervillain brewing behind the scenes, so having overlapping characters is crucial to ensuring it feels like one cohesive universe. In many ways, Guy is the perfect choice for that role, as his Green Lantern status allows him to play in the cosmic space, while his Justice Gang membership gives him a constant link back to Earth.
