After Gunn's DC Lantern, I'm so sorry 2011 Ryan Reynolds Green Lantern perhaps I judged much to Harshly!!!!!

I didn't know David Lindelof was behind that movie with Tom Cruise called Digger If that's the type of crap he produces yeah, he needs to be fired

Just so you know, this is going to be a bit of a long post, but it's worth a read.
Before anything, Aaron, I have to caution you before trying to support Ethan Van Sciver. Just because he was a comic book artist for DC does not mean he is a good guy. Aside from being a known bigot and a sociopath (that's why he was pushed out of the mainstream comic book industry), several years ago during the release of Zack Snyder's Justice League he went so far as to mock the death of Zack's daughter during a livestream, saying something so disturbing I couldn't even repeat it in the youtube comments section here without getting blocked. I don't know if you are aware of that, but you should not be platforming or supporting Ethan Van Sciver in any way, even if he hates on the Lanterns show.

Before I get to my thoughts on the show, I want to address the complaint a lot of people have regarding John Stewart making a new oath. I can actually defend that one, and it's quite simple. You see, the reason John Stewart doesn't recite the standard Green Lantern oath and makes his own is because he isn't using an official lantern. He's using an unsanctioned lantern. He is in fact not a Green Lantern, so it would make no sense for him to use the usual Green Lantern oath. It makes total sense that he would invent his own, so I actually didn't have a problem with that detail. But aside from that, here are my general thoughts on the whole show...

Initially, the show reminded me of Bryan Singer’s Fox X-Men movies: wrong lore, unnecessary changes, and an apparent embarrassment about embracing the superhero genre, costumes, and mythology. Still, the acting was very good even where I disagreed with the casting and the serious tone went a long way with me.

Then the finale destroyed whatever goodwill I had left. Hal Jordan’s character assassination was shocking, arguably worse than Luke Skywalker’s in The Last Jedi. Luke was shredded and humiliated, but at least his sacrifice at the end of that movie served some purpose to the good guys, however weak or beneath Luke it was. Hal though died for nothing. Luke’s treatment will remain more notorious because he’s more famous, even though Hal has existed longer. Put popularity aside, and it isn’t close. This may be the worst character assassination ever committed in an adaptation or continuation of a long-running mythology that I have seen so far.

Unlike some critics though, I didn’t object to the show addressing racism. John Stewart’s very first story in the 1970s dealt with racism in America. My problem was that the writers practically dismantled Green Lantern lore to make their particular story work. The Guardians approaching people and asking whether they’re afraid is ridiculous. That isn’t how it works in the comics. And why would beings responsible for the entire universe follow up with the family of someone who failed their supposed test? What would motivate that? John’s mother lecturing a Guardian about asking a Black man in America whether he’s afraid was especially stupid. Her husband had just woken up with a giant alien standing over his bed. Wouldn't that be the reason he said he was afraid and not because he was a Black man in America??

There could have been a much better, more natural, organic, and thought provoking way to tackle racism without having to completely mutilate the lore and commit total character assassination on Hal Jordan. There is a very strange, cynical trend in Hollywood over the last fifteen years where writers are obsessed with the idea that the only way to uplift one character is to take an established predecessor, completely tear them apart, humiliate them, and assassinate their character. What is this obsession? It's pure cynicism.


I initially didn't have a problem with the show's premise of grounded storytelling on Earth, dealing with a crime of smaller scope than what Green Lanterns usually handle. I assumed they were starting small to bring in an audience that wouldn't normally watch a superhero show, and then as the season progressed, slowly open the doors to the broader mythology. That's what I thought they were doing in the first two episodes, because by the end of episode two, you see Hal Jordan fly to space where Sinestro is being held. I thought that was the trajectory. But as the show went on, I saw that wasn't the case at all. The show was trying to find every excuse under the sun to avoid CGI and special effects, to the point where the excuses became ridiculous. It was one thing to say one alien race had a human form, but literally every alien race on Earth conveniently looked human. The Manhunters did not fight at all, they just seduced people?? Major events are only talked about, never seen like Noah flying to space, breaking Sinestro out space prison or Hal's predecessor Abin Sur. And the very last episode was made up of just literally 4-5 long conversations!

When I found out after the finale that each episode cost an average at least $16 million, I was blown away. That is absolute insanity. That is $6 million more per episode than the entire budget of Godzilla Minus One. Each episode of this 8 part series cost more than that entire 2 hour Godzilla movie. Where the hell did the money go? It looked way cheaper than an average CW show.

The ring’s battery life was equally absurd. In Goofy Gunn’s Superman, Guy Gardner makes enormous constructs to fight giant monsters, intergalactic space imps, and an army of thousands. In this supposedly identical continuity, Hal makes a fake twenty-dollar bill, creates a bottle opener, flies around a bit, and the ring drops to 5% power. That makes zero sense.

I could go on and on about the issues with this show, but this would turn into a full essay, so I'll leave it there. I give it a 3/10. It is unbelievable how James Gunn's DCU is failing by every measurable standard compared to what Zack Snyder was trying to build. Yet Zack was the one kicked out, while James Gunn was not only put in charge but given more power than almost any filmmaker in Hollywood history. Being a writer and director while simultaneously running the studio is control almost no one has ever held, and this is the quality he puts out. It's like living in Bizarro World.

I should point out, Aaron, that you yourself might be surprised to learn who the showrunner is. It's Chris Mundy. If that name doesn't ring a bell, it should. Chris Mundy was the showrunner on Ozark, a show you've spoken very fondly of many times. I believe you said it was one of your favorite shows. If I'm right about you loving Ozark, how about that? It's the same guy who showran that and Lanterns. The fact that Mundy ran Ozark I believe explains how Laura Linney was brought into the cast, as she rarely does genre projects like this. By the way, I'm a big fan of Laura Linney. She's a great actress and really does deserve an Oscar one day.

Looking at the writing staff, you focused on Vanessa Baden-Kelly, but another name to be wary of is Zack Whedon. He is Joss Whedon's brother. Joss Whedon is one of the main architects of the hipster jokefest tone that has plagued Hollywood like a cancer ever since the first Avengers movie made a billion dollars. When Joss was brought in by Geoff Johns to destroy Zack Snyder's Justice League, many noted that he showed open disdain for both the cast and Zack himself. Kevin Smith mentioned on his youtube channel that crew members who worked on both cuts said Joss was openly disrespectful toward Zack's work while working on his version of Justice League. Even after Ray Fisher bravely spoke out to blow the whistle on Joss Whedon's abusive behavior, and even though Joss was rightfully canceled, James Gunn is bringing his sibling onto this project. The reason this is noteworthy is because when Ray Fisher exposed the abuse on set during the Justice League reshoots, some industry figure with no connection to the film posted on social media defending Joss Whedon and implying Ray was lying. One of the people who liked that post? James Gunn. It should concern you that he's bringing in one of Joss Whedon's brothers, which feels like Gunn's way of trying to slowly rehabilitate Joss back into the industry.

As for the viewership, whether people consider it a massive hit or just okay, we can agree the ratings were respectable, making it technically the first financial win for the DCU. I firmly believe the reason for this is that it's the first DCU project to actually take itself seriously compared to the clown shoes projects before it. Imagine if the show had combined that serious tone with the full fantastical elements and real respect for Green Lantern mythology and characters. It might have been one of, if not the, greatest superhero shows ever made. Instead, they only got two parts of that right, high quality acting and a serious tone, while the rest was unbelievably disrespectful.

The only thing the Lanterns series has achieved is bringing everyone together to rip on it 😂

I think the biggest the most horrible piece of writing is the woman cop killing hail Jordan and the writer saying she has to live with it. That’s punishment enough she doesn’t need jail. Lol. Just no consequence for murdering the greatest Green Lantern ever it’s astonishing.

Im currently rewatching the 2011 Ryan Reynolds Green Lantern movie and it’s honestly a lot better than I remember. Way better than whatever this garbage was at least 🤣

8 episodes... and the budget for each episode was up to $20 million an episode. That has to be money laundering.

This is a Kurtzman situation. If they don't get rid of Gunn and Safran now, they will damage the DC brand so badly, the IP will lose it's value and no one will watch anything they put out.

I hope Skydance looking at the reactions of this slop. Restore the snyderverse and fire Gunn

The CW did DC better than HBO.

IT IS OFFICIAL. 70% is bad, VERY BAD.  Stop hiring HATERS & BRING BACK LOVERS of HEROES!  Well said Aaron!

I would rate it one star on rotten tomatoes and IMDb

I'm glad that I skipped Lanterns.

Didn't watch it because it had me at "Gunn".

No, they wrote the show this way on purpose. They’re trying to “LABEL AND SMEAR” the concept of “Heroism”, hoping to brainwash as many suggestable watchers as possible into thinking that there’s nothing wrong with killing your significant other in a moment of “emotional confusion”.  Sheriff Carrie: “Oh well, whatever, I’ll just go find another dumb white male to manipulate.  Oh wait, maybe I can seduce Jon, and USE him too, just like I did Hal”.  See LINDSEY CLANCY for further details.

The writers are the ones who are racist, don't care about the source material and don't want to write about inspiring heroes.  The absolute wrong people are in charge of DC.  Plus, they are space cops.  Hello!!! They belong in space.

It's the worst DC Adaptation ever made. Even people who enjoyed the show and know nothing about Green Lantern are all furious and angry at the finale.

I've noticed this is a pattern with James Gunn. He defends utter crap. He called The Flash his favorite movie, he called Supergirl a great movie, he called Lanterns a great show and said people should be so excited for the last two episodes. Even his wife said Peacemaker Season 2 is the most James Gunn thing ever. But every single time the fans hated all of these. At this point I'd just assume if James Gunn says it's good, it's not.

So cringe 😂 I’ll miss the Snyderverse and I wish they finished the job but it’s getting less likely everyday it’s going to happen. Crazy how general audiences would rather have Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan return in the DCU than anything Snyder related. Don’t get me wrong, If there is an announcement about ZSJL 2 it’ll break the internet. Just saying, right now, people love Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan. Never seen so many edits on social media about a superhero like his character. “The south will rise again, the Snyderverse will rise again!” 😂

Lanterns is truly horrific, just downright awful. And I’m not even being ironic when I say that I believe there’s something almost unintentionally diabolical about this show. I say that because, whether it was deliberate or not, I find it hard to imagine that the people who wrote this series fully understood just how clearly people would see its malice. It’s astonishing to revisit Ryan Reynolds’s Green Lantern, because that movie was genuinely problematic, but the deeper the North American entertainment industry sinks into this kind of content, the more movies like that one start to look genuinely interesting and fun by comparison. These days, I see Ryan Reynolds’s Green Lantern as a perfectly inappropriate work, precisely because it represents the number one example of this artificially constructed idea that something like this show could ever be considered perfectly appropriate. It isn’t, and it never will be. I owe Ryan Reynolds an apology. He deserved at least some respect, unlike whoever made this godawful series.