HBO’s ‘Lanterns’ Just Made a Major Departure From DC Comics With This Character’s Backstory

HBO's "Lanterns" series has significantly rewritten John Stewart's origin story in its third episode, departing sharply from decades of established DC Comics canon. In the show, Stewart's path to becoming a Green Lantern begins with his father failing a test of courage set by the Guardians of the Universe, after which the boy is deliberately raised to be fearless so he can one day take up the ring himself. This marks a notable creative choice for a high-profile adaptation, as it discards multiple well-known comic-book versions of the character's backstory in favour of an entirely new premise.

In the comics, John Stewart's origin has evolved considerably since his 1970s debut in "Green Lantern" #87, where he appeared as a rough-edged, anti-authority architect recruited as Hal Jordan's backup. Later storylines, including the 1990s "Zero Hour" event, gave him a troubled Detroit upbringing involving an abusive, alcoholic father and the death of his sister, while the DC Animated Universe's "Justice League" recast him as a former US Marine rather than a civil rights activist, a change the comics later adopted. The HBO series instead invents a wholly new mythology in which Stewart is groomed from birth by his parents and the Guardians to replace Hal Jordan, a version with little precedent in the source material.