The Justice League of America movie continues to grind onward in the rumor department.
Currently, actor Tyrese Gibson (of Tranformers) is in the running to play the part of Green Lantern John Stewart.
John Stewart used to be the ‘little known Green Lantern’ or ‘the black Green Lantern‘, until he became part of the Justice League cartoon series. Because of the exposure that the Cartoon Network series earned him, Stewart could easily be seen as the more widely known Lantern at present.
Introduced to the Green Lantern series in 1972 by Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams, Stewart was chosen by the Guardians of the Galaxy as a ‘replacement’ for Hal Jordan. A kind of intergalactic policeman, Green Lantern (up until then Hal Jordan) wielded a power ring to fight crime. Highly influenced by the EE Doc Smith Lenseman pulp novels, the 1960’s Green Lantern series was an attempt to re-invent the original character from the 1940’s, Alan Scott.
Portrayed as an ‘angry black man,’ John Stewart certainly shook things up in the monthly Green Lantern comic book series. He refused to follow orders, was headstrong and prone to outbursts. In comparison to the level headed king of cool, Hal Jordan, this came as a bit of a shock to readers. Unfortunately, Stewart became less defined as he took his place as Hal’s stand-in during Justice League of America adventures of the early 1980’s and only began to find his place in the DC Universe after Hal Jordan decided to drop the Green Lantern routine and John Stewart finally took his place.
Possibly the most complex of the modern Green Lantern power ring slingers, John Stewart became defined by a key moment in the deluxe mini-series Cosmic Odyssey when he failed to save a planet from destruction. It was this guilt that allowed him to develop through a now standard character arc resulting in a well-rounded character.
After another Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner, decided to move on Stewart became the official Green Lantern to the JLA. Stewart was replaced by Hal Jordan when the series returned last year, but has been re-instated by Hal himself. Many readers feel that this is due to the fact that Dwayne McDuffie, writer of the Justice League cartoon where Stewart prospered has taken over the writing duties.
Even though I am a big Hal Jordan fan, I feel that John Stewart really shines in the Justice League comic while Hal was rarely used at all by writer Brad Meltzer. Given that the writer of the monthly Green Lantern series Geoff Johns has re-invented Jordan’s person into an extreme maverick-type, I can’t really see how the character would work in a team book anyway.
Including John Stewart in the Justice League movie is a great decision. I still hope that the script and direction is up to the job, though.
