During the penultimate episodes before the midseason haitus of ‘The Flash’ (‘The Flash Vs. Arrow’) and ‘Arrow’ (‘The Brave and the Bold’), the two titular heroes played by Grant Gustin and Stephen Amell squared off against a foe whose power was to instill rage in his victims. The physical manifestation of this power was his eyes glowing red.
Initial reports were that this villain was based on the fairly obscure and goofy comic book nemesis the Rainbow Raider. However… a rainbow has seven colors. To top things off, the villain was taken down by a device rigged up by Cisco that countered his red rage power with flashes of green, blue and violet light. Considering that Geoff Johns is one of these shows’ producers and he basically made a name for himself by writing ‘Green Lantern’ in which he introduced the popular concept of multicolored Lanterns, many have jumped to the conclusion that this was a subtle way to open the door to bringing in a TV version of this concept.
In the comics, Red Lanterns are fueled by Rage, Orange Lantern (there’s only one, Larfleeze) is fueled by Avarice (Greed), Yellow Lanterns are fueled by Fear, Blue Lanterns are fueled by Hope and Violet Lanterns are fueled by Love. Of course the most famous Corps are the Green Lanterns, whose powers are derived from Will Power. There have been several Earth-born Green Lanterns, most famously Hal Jordan. But arguably second most famous is John Stewart.
With the possibility that the various Lanterns might be coming to TV, fans have begun speculating that an existing character may be “chosen” to take up the role of Green Lantern, none other than Oliver Queen’s trusty partner John Diggle, a former military man may be revealed to be John Diggle Stewart (or John Stewart Diggle?).
David Ramsey, the actor who plays Diggle, can’t shed any light (no pun intended) on the matter, as he stated:
“Diggle John Stewart? I cannot say ‘yes’, and I cannot say, no. I’m serious! I do know that there is serious discussion about whether or not this guy becomes John Stewart. But, I mean, I’ll say this: it is top secret. I’ve asked them – David Ramsey has asked them – and they’re like, “we’re working on some stuff.” If that’s the case, it’s gonna be huge. This is the stuff they want to avoid. I think they don’t want anybody to know yet and they haven’t even told me. But they have told me that they are thinking about it and that they are considering it. But they’re not going to release anything yet. That’s exactly what the told me. Greg Berlanti told me that. Andrew [Kreisberg] and Marc [Guggenheim] have told me that. I haven’t spoken to Geoff Johns about it. But that’s the word from people directly involved in Arrow- that they’re working on something. “Here’s the truth of it: if I knew, I would tell you I know the answer to that, but I’m not at liberty to tell you that. I would answer like that. I probably wouldn’t tell you anyway, but I would at least tell you that I know. I honestly do not know.”
With ‘The Flash’ introducing super powers to the previously power-free world of ‘Arrow’ and with ‘Supergirl‘ potentially also living in the same world, why not bring in Green Lantern and the other colored Corps?
There certainly are similarities between Ramsey’s Diggle and John Stewart, such as their military backgrounds. But I have my doubts. While ‘Arrow’ and ‘The Flash’ exist in the same universe, the tone of each show couldn’t be more different. ‘Arrow’ has retained its gritty, street-level crime tone, leaving the fanciful super powers to ‘The Flash.’ Green Lantern wouldn’t really fit into that world. And I don’t think anyone wants to see Diggle leave ‘Arrow.’
What do you think? Would you like to see Diggle become Green Lantern? Do you want to see Green Lantern at all?
Source: Comic Book Movie
