The Flash: What Does Diggle's Green Lantern Twist Mean for Justice U?

By Jenna Anderson

The CW's Arrowverse of shows have remained a fixture of superhero television, with the interconnected franchise of DC Comics-inspired shows existing for nearly a decade. Thanks to a string of recent cancellations, that number of shows has dwindled significantly, consisting of The Flash and (maybe) Superman & Lois. Still, the network has pursued plans to further continue the Arrowverse, most recently in the form of Justice U, a potential spinoff series that would star and have its pilot episode directed by Arrow alum David Ramsey. Since Arrow wrapped in early 2020, Ramsey has been reprising his role of John Diggle / Spartan across many of the other DC shows — and his most recent appearance on The Flash could have completely changed the groundwork for Justice U.

A subplot of the episode centered around Eobard Thawne / Reverse Flash (Tom Cavanagh) being visited in his Lian Yu prison cell by John Diggle (David Ramsey). Diggle asked Thawne, with his knowledge of advanced technology, to help open the mystical box that he's been carrying around for two years, but has not been able to open. Through a series of events, Thawne teased that accepting the offer within the box would set up Diggle's destiny, and revealed that opening it would let him see his life in other universes. Diggle opened the box and witnessed what those alternate universes had to offer, but ultimately rejected them in favor of being closer to his family.

This appears to serve as the apparent culmination of the past two years of Diggle's post-Arrow storyline, with the series finale of the flagship series showing him getting a cosmic box with a glowing light that looked an awful lot like a Green Lantern power ring. But with Justice U reportedly still in development as recently as this month, it also seems to forecast what Diggle's new status quo could be on that show. Justice U will reportedly follow Diggle on a new mission to recruit five young meta humans to live undercover as freshmen at a prestigious university, where he will oversee their education and train them to become the heroes of tomorrow.

There's always a chance that the Green Lantern of it all could be changed yet again in the upcoming Season 2 finale of Superman & Lois, which Ramsey's Diggle is confirmed to appear in. But if it doesn't, and Justice U ends up becoming a reality on The CW, Diggle's driving force on the series might not be as a member of the Green Lantern Corps — and the idea of him turning down that cosmic destiny could potentially be further played with.

The Flash airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW. Superman & Lois airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW.

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