There isn't much that doesn't divide people these days, but Lanterns, while critically acclaimed, has split opinions. Some love the show's bold new approach to the Green Lantern mythos, while others have been quick to express their dissatisfaction with the portrayal of Hal Jordan.
The argument is that the series has torn down Hal to build John Stewart up, portraying the hero as a failure and a racist. While Tom King and Damon Lindelof are in charge of Lanterns alongside Chris Mundy, writers Vanessa Baden Kelly and Justin Britt-Gibson appear to be the driving force behind Hal's controversial portrayal.
In an interview with The Ringer-Verse, Kelly doubled down on her decision to position Hal as a racist. "The thing that has been very, very shocking to me was the inability to have some nuance [about Hal's portrayal]," she said of the reaction from fans. "I'm from Florida, so I grew up around a lot of white people who would probably use the N-word amongst their peers and then also turn around and defend you in something."
The DCU's Hal may be from the "South," but his comic book counterpart hails from Coast City, which is located in California. However, that's just one of many changes Lanterns has made to the pilot-turned-superhero.
"I can look at Hal's microaggressions and be like, yeah, he's got some racist tendencies because he's a man of a certain age that grew up in a certain time and place," Kelly continued. "I also feel like he probably f***s aliens in other places and doesn't feel like he's non-discriminatory."
"And both things are true. And for the audiences to sometimes not be able to hold that both things are true was really difficult for me, because they're like, 'Why are you making him a racist?'" she added. "Like, no, I'm making him a 60-year-old dude. I think that he is in the way that 60-year-old white dudes from the South can be, but don't think they are because they golf with a Black dude."
Kelly went on to explain that the Democratic National Convention played a role in how she and Britt-Gibson wrote Lanterns, comparing Hal and John's dynamic to that of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. As Kelly puts it, "we extrapolated characters that we knew in real life, you know, and dumped it into those guys."
Britt-Gibson, meanwhile, suggested Hal is particularly resistant to being replaced by John because, "You've been holding on to this sort of legacy, and then all of a sudden this young guy comes around, young and Black and handsome, and strong and confident. It's threatening."
Later, Kelly explained how Aaron Pierre's lighter skin tone changed how they wrote the show and implied that the Guardians of the Universe were more open to choosing John because his skin wasn't as dark as that of his brothers.
"Justin and I sat together and we talked about it, and we brought it to Chris and Damon, and they were just immediately like, 'We trust that you guys know your folks. Get busy. Go do what you have to do,'" she recalled. "We kind of baked in this idea that part of his being chosen is because they felt like his particular looks were more palatable to white people."
There's a lot to unpack here, and fans are likely to have strong feelings about Kelly and Britt-Gibson's perception of the DCU's Hal. Writers bringing their own thoughts and beliefs to these comic book adaptations is nothing new, but judging by the reaction on social media, some feel the Lanterns scribes risk crossing a line.
Seven episodes of Lanterns are now streaming on HBO Max.