Less than 24 hours after the news that James Gunn and Peter Safran will spearhead DC Studios, The Hollywood Reporter reveals that HBO Max's Green Lantern series is completely shifting gears.
The show has been in the works since 2019, and will focus on Green Lantern John Stewart. One of DC Comics' first Black superheroes, John is immensely popular and has long had a huge following among fans first introduced to the hero in the Justice League Unlimited TV series. Hopes he might make his live-action debut have persisted for years.
Executive producer Greg Berlanti's original plan was for Green Lantern to revolve around Guy Gardner and Alan Scott, with Finn Wittrock and Jeremy Irvine tapped to play the heroes.
Writer and showrunner Seth Grahame-Smith (who was among the many filmmakers to take a crack at The Flash movie before "creative differences" came into play) has departed the series despite completing scripts for a full eight-episode season. It sounds like he chose to leave the project after the latest set of executive changes at HBO Max.
The trade shares a few additional details, including the fact John Stewart was initially off the table to producers. Once Walter Hamada exited DC Films, the decision was made to start over and focus on the fan-favourite Black superhero. This news is also unrelated to the launch of DC Studios, despite the suspect timing.
Marc Guggenheim will no longer executive produce, while a previously reported $120 million budget is expected to be significantly lower. Grahame-Smith's scripts now look set to follow in Batgirl's footsteps as a tax write-down, with sources indicating Green Lantern's price tag was the issue here, not his work.
Wittrock and Irvine are no longer attached, though both could appear in Green Lantern down the line.
Who knows what happens next? If Gunn and Safran push to use John on the big screen, the series might just fall by the wayside, though it's possible they have plans for Hal Jordan.