At WonderCon DC held a press event to unveil information about their “Rebirth” project, which is a line wide relaunch that will kick off on May 25th, which just happens to be my birthday. Unfortunately, there isn’t much (actually there isn’t anything) for us John Stewart fans to get excited about. It was revealed that John will be in a book titled Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps written by Robert Venditti and with art by Ethan Van Sciver. The story will be about HAL JORDAN…… and the Green Lantern Corps fighting the Sinestro Corps for stewardship of the universe.

I’m not looking forward to this at all. More than anything, I’m upset that John Stewart is put in a title called “Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps.” The title and art displayed for the book (none of which showcased John Stewart) suggests he will be relegated behind Hal Jordan and hiding somewhere in his shadow. As a big fan of John Stewart, I don’t find this particularly compelling. I’m also not thrilled about yet another super redundant color war.

Then there is the creative team. I’m not a fan of either of the creators’ work, unfortunately. I’m actually surprised that DC kept Venditti writing Green Lantern books, considering how his Green Lantern run has been heavily criticized by fans and hasn’t necessarily been a big sales success.

I will not be supporting this upcoming book, so fans of GreenLantern.Co should not expect reviews for it at this site. On a related note, I’ve had some question me about why I don’t review the current title, Green Lantern Corps: Edge of Oblivion, and I will publicly explain that now.

First, I really don’t like the book, and I’m not one of those types of comic fans who will torture themselves and their wallets by continuing to read and support titles they don’t like. I spend quite a bit of time on the reviews for this site, and I can’t be bothered with dedicating that time to write about something I just don’t care at all about. The promotion for Edge of Oblivion led many fans to believe that John Stewart would be the central character, but upon reading, it’s clear that he is a supporting character and the main character is Guy Gardner. That doesn’t interest me, so I don’t buy it. It’s for this reason that I also won’t be supporting or writing about Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps.

That said, there are a lot of exciting things in store for GreenLantern.Co. If you’re like me–and I think many of you are–and haven’t been satisfied with DC’s treatment of John Stewart, and are tired of the editorial driven events and gimmicks interrupting your Green Lantern stories, and are yearning for great John Stewart comics, never fear! Green Lantern.Co has you covered. Rather than simply complaining about the situation in blog posts, GreenLantern.Co has been producing its own full length Green Lantern comic series.

GREEN LANTERN: STARLIT CRISIS is coming very soon, so be on the lookout!

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I have bad news for fans who were hoping to see John Stewart as soon as possible on the big screen. Apparently, Green Lantern won’t be appearing in the DC Cinematic Universe until perhaps the second Justice League movie. Greg Silverman, Warner Bros. president of creative development and worldwide production, and producer Charles Roven addressed the character that has been the subject of much speculation and debate among comic book fans. Here is an excerpt from an Entertainment Weekly article:

“[Green Lantern] is an incredible character. He’s actually multiple incredible characters,” Silverman says. “There’s real opportunity there. We didn’t do a great job on that first Green Lantern movie. This is a character who deserves to be treated in the same way that Batman and Superman and Wonder Woman are being treated now, which is with great reverence. I guess I can say to the Green Lantern fans: if they can be patient with us, I think they’ll be really happy.”

But how patient? Rovens says we may not see Hal Jordan, John Stewart, or any incarnation of Green Lantern until Justice League – Part Two. Maybe. “Every beat of the movie is not yet worked out. So there’s the possibility that he may or may not be in Justice League 2,” the producer says. “For now, we felt that we were introducing enough characters that the best possible place we could put Green Lantern is some introduction in Justice League 2, or barring that, a movie after.”

How Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice maps out DC’s movie universe

It seems the reason Green Lantern hasn’t been mentioned much by Warner Bros. is simply because it’s not a priority right now. No doubt this is due to the terrible financial and critical performance of the 2011 Green Lantern film starring Ryan Reynolds, which is generally thought of as one of the worst superhero movies ever. After that weak effort, which Silverman acknowledges Warner Bros. did a bad job on, it seems WB is approaching that property with trepidation.

This is certainly disappointing for those hoping to see John Stewart before the announced Green Lantern Corps movie, which is scheduled for release quite a ways from now in 2020. However, it’s nice to see WB officials offer some clarity on the issue instead of leaving fans wondering for months, if not years.

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