It has been over a decade since Ryan Reynold’s Green Lantern feature dropped, which not only bombed critically and commercially, but its failure led to WB putting the IP on ice. Fortunately, with the new regime in, fans will finally get to experience the Lanterns on the silver screen for the first time since 2011, as they are set to make their DCU debut in the HBO show Lanterns.
But before James Gunn and Peter Safran cleaned the house, CW’s Arrowverse dropped several easter eggs regarding the Emerald Knight, even though the character itself never appeared.
Arrowverse Included a Plethora of Green Lantern References
In the very first season of Arrow, Hal Jordan’s aviation company Ferris Air was referenced, as during the flashback scene, Ollie, Slade, and Shado try to stop Edward Fyers from shooting a Ferris Air jet. But the hints regarding the Lanterns in the Arrowverse don’t stop there, as several more easter eggs were dropped in four more Arrow episodes, including Season 5’s Second Chances.
The flashback episode, which follows Talia al Ghul and Oliver Queen during their mission in Russia, sees Oliver contemplating the idea of returning to Star City. When the duo are conversing, for a brief period, we can see what appears to be a Green Lantern’s Power Battery behind them.
Apart from Arrow, Grant Gustin‘s The Flash also incorporates several hints regarding the Emerald Knight. In the ninetieth episode of The Flash Season 1, fans can see a billboard reading Jordan’s hometown, Coast City, and during its pilot, Barry tests his powers in an abandoned Ferris Air Testing Facility.
Zack Snyder and Arrowverse Weren’t Allowed to Use Green Lantern for a Similar Reason
Despite planting several easter eggs regarding the character, Green Lantern wasn’t allowed to make a full appearance in the Arrowverse. Writer Marc Guggenheim suggested it might’ve to do with WB’s plans for a Green Lantern Corps movie.
Interestingly, for similar reasons, Zack Snyder wasn’t allowed to include Wayne T. Carr’s John Stewart in his Justice League director’s cut, which pushed him to use Martian Manhunter.
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He told Vanity Fair:
They were like, ‘We have plans for John Stewart and we want to do our own announcement.’ So I said all right, I’ll give you that. So [Martian Manhunter] was the compromise.
But like the Snyderverse and the Arrowverse, which were scrapped in order to make room for Gunn’s DCEU, the previously planned Lanterns project starring Finn Wittrock was also canned. Reflecting on the scrapped project, James Gunn later clarified that he had no idea if it was part of the DCEU, and wished Wittrock luck moving forward.
Arrow is available to stream on Apple TV.
