How We Could Have Gotten The Green Lantern Early In Legends Of Tomorrow
Green Lantern doesn't exactly have the greatest reputation when it comes to live-action adaptations. The 2011 film starring Ryan Reynolds was famously panned by critics to the point where it still gets made fun of to this day in the likes of Deadpool 2, also starring Reynolds. DC may have had big plans for the film, even going so far as to tease Sinestro for the sequel, but alas, the franchise died before it could even get off the ground.
Things look to be on the upside for the intergalactic space enforcer, though. The superhero is getting his own TV show on HBO Max, which has the potential to be the biggest show based on a DC property yet. There are also rumors that the Green Lantern Corps could have some sort of role in Zack Snyder's Justice League, set to come out in March of 2021, though these are unconfirmed. Regardless, the Green Lantern's cinematic future is highly likely to be better than his past, particularly since any adaptation will have decades of beloved comic book mythos to pull from.
However, another version of the Green Lantern from the comic books could have been introduced to audiences a lot sooner, if Legends of Tomorrow had been able to have its way. Here's how it would have gone down.
Golden Age Green Lantern, Alan Scott, was originally supposed to be part of the Justice Society of America on Legends of Tomorrow
The Justice Society of America made their official debut in The CW's Legends of Tomorrow in season 2, with the team comprised of Stargirl (Sarah Grey), Commander Steel (Matthew MacCaull), and Obsidian (Dan Payne) among others. Obsidian's inclusion, in particular, is intriguing. Why? Because while the JSA has had various members over the years in the comics, one of the original heroes just so happened to be the Golden Age version of Green Lantern — Alan Scott, who is also Obsidian's father.
Back in February of 2020, concept artist Andy Poon posted some artwork on Instagram displaying his idea for what Alan Scott could've looked like on Legends of Tomorrow. As a bonus cheeky nod, Poon used Ryan Reynolds as the base model for the suit, and even though it's extremely unlikely the actor would've been cast on a CW show, the costume itself is very much in line for what we would expect from the Arrowverse. By the sounds of it, Poon didn't end up putting a ton of time and effort into the work, though, as he writes that "I was initially tasked to draw Alan Scott, only to find out about an hour later from DC that we can't use him so they changed him to Hourman."
Rex Tyler, a.k.a. Hourman (Patrick J. Adams), is initially depicted as the leader of the Justice Society before he's promptly killed off. It seems like plans were in place for Green Lantern to lead the team, and given that Alan Scott is Obsidian's father, it would've made for an emotional ending — assuming Scott would've met the same fate — with a son having to bury his father.
It's interesting to ponder why, exactly, DC didn't want The CW to use Alan Scott, who's not as recognizable as a name as Hal Jordan, John Stewart, or Jessica Cruz. Does DC have plans for the Golden Age hero going forward?
We'll just have to wait and see how that HBO Max show shakes out.