How HBO Max 'Green Lantern' Series Could Tie-in With 'Green Lantern Corps' Movie?

After the 2011 Green Lantern movie managed to recoup only $219 million in the box office despite its development with a massive budget of $200 million, Warner Bros put any further project or sequel development related to the Green Lantern on hold.

But with the launch of HBO Max in 2020, a Green Lantern project now seems to be back on track with a hefty budget.

During a recent interview with Business Insider, HBO Max’s content chief Kevin Reilly revealed that Greg Berlanti would be producing the Green Lantern series.

Collaborating with Berlanti on the series is none other than producer/screenwriter Geoff Johns (Green Lantern, Justice League, Stargirl).

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John's Mad Ghost Production official website lists the Green Lantern HBO Max series as 'the first live-action series delving into the Green Lantern universe.' 

(Photo Source: Mad Ghost Productions)

When asked about the series at the 2020 Television Critics Association press tour in January, HBO Max Head of Original Content, Sarah Aubrey said that the series would span several decades to help audiences better understand the mythos of the Green Lanterns. She also mentioned that the series would feature not one but two stories about Green Lanterns of Earth and would also feature a story about the villain Sinestro. 

It’s going to span several decades [focusing] on two stories about Green Lanterns on Earth [as well as one in space] going into the Sinestro story

Who Are the Green Lanterns? 

Green Lanterns Corps are an intergalactic law enforcement agency. The members of the Corps wear a special green power ring each.

The rings draw their energy from the will of sentient beings in the entire universe. This pure Will is then channeled through their rings which then allows a Green Lantern Corps member to create constructs, fly and project energy beams. 

Who is Sinestro? 

(Photo Source: Flashback FM)

Sinestro is the recurring nemesis of the Green Lantern Corps. He initially was the leader of the Corps but was later dishonorably discharged after abusing his power.

He was the mentor of Hal Jordan when he first joined the corps. Sinestro and Jordan often found themselves at odds because the latter did not believe in the former's totalitarian methods of bringing order in the universe. 

Later, Sinestro was kicked out of the corps after which he donned his own yellow power ring that harnessed the energy from the fear of entire sentient beings of the universe. 

'Green Lantern' Corps Film

In addition to the HBO Max series, Geoff Johns is also developing an outline for a Green Lantern film. 

On John's Mad Ghost Productions' website, the Green Lantern film is still listed with the following synopsis:

Once of DC Comics’ greatest Super Hero universes, the film will feature Hal Jordan and John Stewart…

In the early stages of the planned reboot of the Green Lantern movie series by Warner Bros., the film was being developed as a space buddy-cop routine similar to Lethal Weapon that starred Mel Gibson and Danny Glover.

Deadline back then had reported that the film would feature a newly recruited African American Marine, John Stewart, who would be paired with an older, battle-hardened Hal Jordan. 

(Photo Source: CBR)

'Green Lantern' Versions

Hal Jordan and John Stewart are the two most prominent versions of Green Lantern. Hal Jordan is considered probably the greatest corps member to wear the Green Lantern ring. He has proven himself time and again against powerful forces against the likes of yellow sun-fueled Superman, one of the powerful Guardians Of The Galaxy, and Parallax—a being composed entirely of fear. 

John Stewart was a later addition to the Corps who took over from Hal Jordan. He is even one of the founding members of the original Justice League in the comic series. He is the current leader of the Green Lantern Corps and his experience as a former U.S Marine has instilled in him a firm discipline  

In 2018, a rumored Hal Jordan casting list made the rounds on the internet, and on the top of the list was Tom Cruise. When asked about the role, Cruise did not deny the possibility of playing a Green Lantern.

In any case, casting Tom Cruise makes sense for the film since Hal Jordan is also an older guy with years of experience.

Moreover, Cruise's casting as the cocky pilot-turned-space-cop will be befitting of his similar role in Top Gun—a 1986 film where Cruise played a cocky fighter pilot. Rumored in the director's chair was Christopher McQuarrie, who is Cruise's frequent collaborator from the Mission Impossible franchise. 

How 'Green Lantern' Series Could Tie-in With Green Lantern Corps Film

We know that Hal Jordan and John Stewart will lead the film. The question now is, which of the other two Green Lanterns will lead the series? The ring is undoubtedly pointing to Simon Baz or Jessica Cruz. 

Sarah Aubrey Statement About Green Lantern Series 

From the statement, HBO Max Head of Content, Sarah Aubrey, made about extended coverage of "two stories about Green Lanterns on Earth, and one of Green Lanterns plot merging with Sinestro's story in space, we can deduce that the series will be borrowing heavily from Geoff John's comic book crossover events titled 'Sinestro Corps War' and 'Blackest Night.' 

Sinestro Corps War plot centers on the Green Lanterns of Earth—probably Hal Jordan, Kyle Rayner, John Stewart, and Guy Gardner in the series—and the rest of the Green Lantern Corps as they fight an interstellar war against the Sinestro Corps—an army led by Sinestro.

As the Sinestro Corps war rages, the Green Lanterns of Earth learn of the "Blackest Night," a prophecy that foretold the coming of a black power ring able to reanimate the dead.

"Blackest Night" also prophesized the emergence of 5 other power rings that would lead to a cataclysmic war.  And thus, Sinestro Corps War and the Backest Night became the most ground-breaking events that re-imagined the Green Lantern mythos.

It’s going to span several decades on focus on two stories about Green Lanterns on Earth” as well as one in space “going into the Sinestro story.

                  -Sarah Aubrey on New Green Lantern Series

Chances Of 'Green Lanterns' New Project Tying-in

If the new series spans several decades as Aubrey said, we can assume that the series' main plot story could be told in different timelines.

In one timeline, the story could focus on Sinestro's past exploits as the leader of the corps. We could also learn more about Sinestro and his mentor, Abin Sur, and the Blackest Night prophecy. 

(Photo Source: @Green Lantern Corps. Facebook)

The second timeline could take place in the present time, with Simon Baz or Jessica Cruz being trained as the new Green Lanterns. And it is through the eyes of these two new recruits, we could learn of the GL mythos.

Unequipped with handling the danger of the upcoming cataclysmic prophesized war, the new recruits could then be responsible for bringing back Hal Jordan—the greatest living Green Lantern—to help them win the war against Sinestro's forces. 

The Green Lantern film could then explore Hal Jordan's return to the Corps—the institution that he rejected a long time back to spend his time on Earth. 

This possible storyline is apt for the current outline of the series and the initial rumors of the future film. All the news of the film and the series merging their plots into each other suggest that DC and HBO Max are creating a much larger universe that would span across multiple platforms.

This is evident in the fact that HBO Max is now actively trying to develop a spin-off series to the upcoming The Batman film. The series will be developed by Matt Reeves' 6th and Idaho production company.