Blackfilm.com had the honor of discussing superheroes with 42 star Chadwick Boseman. In the discussion, unprompted, Boseman threw out the possibility of playing Green Lantern John Stewart. From Blackfilm.com:

CB: Let me put to you this way. If it’s character driven, I’ll do it. As long as it’s character driven, I would love to do it. If it’s just you in a suit and you with powers, then it doesn’t interest me, no matter how big it is. As long as it’s character driven, I’m totally into it. If they could figure out how to do Black Panther and make it fit the original or adapt to the times we’re in now and be new and innovative and be character driven and has the sense of what the comic book is supposed to be, but not bound by it, then yes, of course, I would want to do it.

As he finished speaking on the record, he asked if folks wanted to see a Black Panther film and I said yes. Then he asked, “What about Green Lantern?”

That’s very interesting. Chadwick Boseman would be impeccable casting for John Stewart!

By this point, I think it’s safe to say there is definitely talk of Green Lantern John Stewart behind the scenes. Too many people in the business have referenced the character, or have been rumored to be involved with the character. Let’s go down the list. First, Idris Elba specifically said he wants to play the character. Then, we heard rumors all over the internet saying that Denzel Washington was in talks to play the character. About a week after that, news of The Rock being in talks to play the character went viral and The Rock name dropped John Stewart repeatedly via social media. Now, Chadwick Boseman specifically references the character!

The buzz and rumors involving John Stewart have all been very encouraging and exciting, but I have to admit that I’m a tad weary. It’s not that I’m unhappy to hear about prospects of John Stewart appearing in film, but I’m ready for this matter to be put to rest.

I would just like to know if John Stewart is going to be the main Green Lantern in the DC Cinematic Universe. It’s worth noting that there have been no rumors regarding any other Green Lanterns, while the John Stewart rumors and references are rampant. Yet, nothing has been confirmed.

Keep an eye on GreenLantern.co for more news as it happens.

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Comicbookresources.com has an exclusive preview of the upcoming Batman Beyond 2.0 and Justice League Beyond crossover. This event should be of interest to John Stewart fans, because John is the Green Lantern of the Justice Lords. We may get more Justice League/Justice League Unlimited goodness in these digital first titles!
Gage and Higgins Kick Off Justice Lords Beyond Crossover.

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It seems the many rumors regarding The Rock being in discussions to play John Stewart were true. However, that doesn’t mean those discussions worked out to where The Rock will be playing that character. The professional wrestler turned actor sat down with IGN to shine a bit of light on the whole issue surrounding himself and the Emerald Crusader:

IGN: Right, the John Stewart hashtag. What’s up with that? What’s going on there with the whole namedropping John Stewart thing? I’m curious.

Johnson: I love John Stewart!

IGN: So let’s address the green elephant in the room. Are you going to be Green Lantern?

Johnson: [Laughs] Okay, well since you asked. We’re all friends. So, you know, there’s been mutual interest with myself and DC for many years to find the right character. I, like everyone here in the room, love superheroes. So there’s been mutual interest with us for years, and we’ve been having ongoing discussions, myself and DC, for years about the right character, what the right character would be. That’s another thing, too: it had to be right.

IGN: It was going to be Black Adam for awhile, right?

Johnson: Well, here’s the thing — so we’ve been having these ongoing discussions. I won’t tell you who it is, but I’ll tell you the three qualities we’re looking for, okay? This is going to be fun!

IGN: Does he wear a ring?

Johnson: [Laughs] Can’t say that, but here we go. Here are three qualities. The first quality we were looking for was that he had to be extremely complex and have a lot going on. What that does for me as an actor and the studio is it gives us space that we can explore; his complexities. The other quality was that he had to — the character we were looking for had to be well-known but never brought to life. Then what that does again as an actor, it gives me a little bit of space, and we talked about personality. It just gives me a chance to put an imprint into his personality, with the set of tools that I could bring to the table and put a very unique twist on his personality, but still pay homage to who he is. The third thing — and most important — is he had to be a badass motherfucker, okay, and on a Superman level of power, where could throw down. In those three qualities, I’m happy we’ve found that character. Right now, we’re out to a lot of writers.

As you can see, The Rock is still being coy, but a tweet he made earlier (mentioned in this update), leads me to believe he may not want to play Green Lantern because Ryan Reynolds has already portrayed Green Lantern (albeit Hal Jordan) in the 2011 Green Lantern film.

As IGN mentioned, other characters that have been associated with The Rock’s name over the years are the Shazam! villain, Black Adam, and Lobo. Neither have been played in live action, but I’m not sure if they qualify as “well-known.”

If The Rock is out of the picture to play John Stewart, we can only hope there are still plans for a live action portrayal of the character. Let’s not forget that Idris Elba expressed interest in playing the role, and there were rumors of Denzel Washington putting on the green ring. I’m not saying either of those things would happen, but there definitely seems to be behind the scenes rumblings involving the John Stewart character, so perhaps DC and WB are still on the hunt for an actor to play him.

Source: IGN.com

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There’s more news on the movie front, John Stewart fans. Via Twitter, Dwayne Johnson confirmed that he and DC have agreed on a character for him to play.

It seems that Green Lantern John Stewart fits the bill with all of this, but The Rock later tweeted…

This leads me to believe The Rock will not be playing Green Lantern John Stewart, which, if so, is unfortunate to me, but we will have to wait and see exactly how everything unfolds. As Usual, GreenLantern.Co will keep you up to date with the latest!

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The June solicitations are out. Let’s see what Green Lantern John Stewart is up to at the start of summer 2014.

First up is Green Lantern Corps #32, which continues the “UPRISING” storyline that will be happening in Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps. Writer Van Jensen has said that 2014 will be a huge year for John Stewart. I have a feeling that said hugeness is somehow very much linked to “UPRISING” and that the outcome of this arc will greatly affect John.

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #32
Written by VAN JENSEN
Art and cover by BERNARD CHANG
DC Collectibles Bombshells variant cover by ANT LUCIA
On sale JUNE 11 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with three covers. Please see the order form for more information.
“UPRISING!” part 4! The casualties of the uprising against the Green Lantern Corps reach monumental proportions as the Durlans reveal their sinister endgame! John Stewart leads his ragtag team of Lanterns against an army of shape-shifters that can assume any form. Meanwhile, one Lantern must decide if he will make the ultimate sacrifice to give the Corps any hope in this war.

I’m very much looking forward to that.
Moving on, John Stewart will continue to show up in the digital first Injustice Year Two comic.

INJUSTICE YEAR TWO #6
Written by TOM TAYLOR
Art by BRUNO REDONDO
Cover by JHEREMY RAAPACK
On sale JUNE 25 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T • DIGITAL FIRST
Superman, Shazam and Sinestro square off in space against the Green Lantern Corps for one final showdown. Meanwhile, back on Earth, Superman’s super-powered security force has begun its clampdown on Gotham City and Commissioner Gordon is not happy. Riots break out with deadly results. Even with enhanced powers from the stolen super pills, are the Birds of Prey ready to make their stand?

Another digital first that will prominently feature John is Smallville Season 11: Lantern #3. I think it’s great that John Stewart is the Green Lantern of the Smallville universe. It seems very fitting to me, perhaps because Justice League and Justice League Unlimited were airing new episodes at the same time period Smallville was. I think it’s kind of lame that Batman is featured on the cover instead of Superman and Green Lantern, but whatever.

SMALLVILLE SEASON 11: LANTERN #3
Written by BRYAN Q. MILLER
Art by MARCIO TAKARA
Cover by CAT STAGGS
On sale JUNE 11 • 40 pg, FC, 3 of 4, $3.99 US • RATED T
A rain of yellow “stars” falls on Gotham City even as Superman and the Green Lantern John Stewart face a threat from Oa’s past that has reappeared on the moon. Batman, Nightwing, Green Arrow and the Wonder Woman from the DEO are doing their best, but they need help. When Clark returns to Earth, will John’s luck run out?

I’m also very excited about the upcoming trade paperback, Green Lantern Corps Vol. 4: Rebuild. This will collect the first part of Van Jensen and Bernard Chang’s run, and if you’re a John Stewart fan who has not been following the Emerald Crusader in the monthlies, then you ABSOLUTELY NEED this! Seriously, this is the best John Stewart has possibly ever been, and you shouldn’t miss it. I’ll definitely be picking it up!

GREEN LANTERN CORPS VOL. 4: REBUILD TP
Written by ROBERT VENDITTI, VAN JENSEN, CHARLES SOULE and JUSTIN JORDAN
Art by BERNARD CHANG, BILLY TAN, VICTOR DRUJINIU, IVAN FERNANDEZ, ALLAN JEFFERSON, ALESSANDRO VITTI, BRAD WALKER and others
Cover by J.G. JONES
On sale JULY 2 • 192 pg, FC, $16.99 US
The Guardians are dead, leaving the Corps to fend for itself. Now, it’s up to John Stewart to train a group of rookies with deadly foes hot on their tails and rings that aren’t functioning properly. And there’s an ancient evil lurking at the edge of the universe that threatens to extinguish their lives forever! This new title collects GREEN LANTERN CORPS #21-27 and ANNUAL #2.

Another book John Stewart fans may want to pick up is Batman Beyond Universe #11. It continues the Justice Lords arc, and Lord Green Lantern is likely to be around, even if he isn’t seen on the cover or mentioned in the solicits.

BATMAN BEYOND UNIVERSE #11
Written by KYLE HIGGINS and CHRISTOS GAGE
Art by THONY SILAS
and DEXTER SOY
Cover by TREVOR McCARTHY
On sale JUNE 25 • 48 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T • DIGITAL FIRST
“Justice Lords Beyond” continues as the shocking truth behind Wonder Woman’s return is finally revealed! Plus: Lord Superman vs. Batman—oh yeah, it’s on now!!!

There’s a lot of cool stuff to look forward to on the horizon. A particular subject of interest for me is the Gail Simone and Ethan Van Sciver graphic novel project that is involving John Stewart. That is likely to be coming out this year, so I’ll be keeping an eye out for it.

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12345678weeds has made a great video showing the best quotes and moments of Green Lantern John Stewart in animation. I think I’ll just let the video speak for itself. Take a look…

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Just giving John Stewart fans a heads up! John Stewart will be appearing in the digital first comics Injustice Year Two, as well as Smallvile: Lantern. I encourage John Stewart fans to pick these up and support the character. Though John Stewart has yet to appear as of my writing this, the arcs for both have already begun, and you may want to start reading now. Injustice Year Two is updated every two weeks on a Tuesday and Smallville: Lantern is updated every Friday. GreenLantern.Co will have reviews of these stories once more chapters have been released.

You can check out the beginnings of the arcs and follow along with them at comiXology.com:
Injustice Year Two
Smallville: Lantern

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Readers know that in “Oa, By the Way…” I often post cool things involving John Stewart that I find around the internet. This time, it happens to be a Tumblr post by thefanattic. This user expresses their strong appreciation for John Stewart, and how he’s transcended just being a fictional comic character for them.

I really want to see John Stewart in the Justice League film.

The Ryan Reynolds solo film was a train wreck but amongst all this Wonder Woman casting news, I got to thinking about John.

If you don’t know, John Stewart is the Green Lantern to succeed Hal Jordan and he is a big favorite amongst fans. And with the bold move of making Wonder Woman someone of color, I’m hoping they skip over Hal and go with John.

And here’s why: There are no black superheroes in cinema right now. The Falcon will be in a supporting role in next year’s Captain America but there is legitimately no black superhero and I don’t think DC wants to be known as the “white-face” side of the superhero cinematic universe.

Growing up, the Justice League cartoon was one of my big inspirations to get more involved in the comics universe (DC and Marvel alike) and my favorite on the show was Batman and Green Lantern.

And here’s the weird thing: I’m Korean. And yet John Stewart was my black role model growing up. And here’s why: As an Asian person, there is a turning moment in your life when you realize you’re not white. As a kid, no other kids are prejudiced and you have a ton of black, white and Asian friends. But growing up, I noticed that I became slowly segregated and white kids would only hang with white kids while I was kinda forced out to hang with the other Asian kids.

Growing up, it’s hard to see colored role models and even more difficult to have an Asian one. But then John Stewart came along. When I saw him, I was immediately in geek love. He was different from the others, he wasn’t white! But everyone treated him equally and he was also strong and smart. It really helped me come to terms that I wasn’t “normal” like the other white kids.

I think John Stewart can be this again. I think he should be in the JL film. And yeah, it is a form of favoritism to choose a black superhero over the original white one but you know what? Fuck you. I don’t care if it seems like racial favoritism (and racist by proxy) but we people of color want a fucking role model. And we get enough baggage for not being white so I don’t care.

I think there are currently 3 great choices for John: Idris Elba, Common, and Taye Diggs. They would all honestly make great John Stewarts but each actor would bring a different vibe. My personal choice is Idris Elba but I don’t know if he’d do it (seeing as how he’s got that small role in Thor that makes no use of his talents).

Anyone else wanna see this happen?

One of the powerful things about the John Stewart character is that he has organically come to represent something, and a rather relevant subject, too. He’s come to represent diversity, and that, yes, people of color can be strong, smart, powerful heroes, too. Yes, people of color can be the best and brightest and chosen to represent their species in the universe spanning Green Lantern Corps.

All personal feelings of the characters aside, as a part of the narrative, I just don’t find it compelling that a White American male is chosen to be the best of the best by this totally unbiased alien selection process. It makes no interesting statement where there is a perfect opportunity to make one, other than the White character is a product of the time in which he was conceived, and that the narrative is catering to White American males. It misses the chance to play upon a strong theme in Green Lantern, and that is anyone can be a Green Lantern. It doesn’t matter their shape, size, age, race, gender, or species. All that matters is that they are worthy. This theme resounds loudly with John Stewart!

I am with thefanattic. I would like to see John Stewart on film. The character makes a strong statement as not only a great character, but also a powerful role model of color, which is sorely lacking in the superhero genre. Dissenters sometimes ask why some treat John Stewart as the only option for showcasing diversity in the Justice League. He is not the only option, but he is undoubtedly the best. Cyborg will never be much of a role model. The character lacks the weight, authority, charisma, and… he’s a robot. Vixen has the potential, but it has never really been met. Neither of those concepts are nearly as cool as the Green Lantern concept.

John Stewart’s potential has been met, and that’s why he’s made such an impact and is such an important character to many of us. Seeing a superhero of color being showcased well and not stuffed in a broom closet somewhere made a big difference to some of us, and it’s honestly offensive that the-powers-that-be turned around and buried him just to support an old-fashioned White hero, when the hero of color never failed, and the White one bombs everywhere.

Well, John Stewart fans, if the situation has frustrated you, you know by now you’re not alone. John Stewart fans all over the internet recognize what’s been happening. John’s support is pretty hard to deny at this point, but let’s keep on keeping on for our favorite superhero and showing DC and WB that his influence from the Justice League cartoons is simply too strong to be ignored.

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