John Stewart’s Lanterns Arc is Similar to Another DC TV Favorite’s, And the Ending Better Be Different

Spoilers for the HBO series Lanterns follow.

The fifth episode of Lanterns was a major turning point for the hit DC TV series. As the conflict between two sects of aliens ravaged the town of Rushville, Nebraska, Green Lantern candidate John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) took his reluctant mentor, Hal Jordan’s (Kyle Chandler) Lantern power ring from him by force. But in a subsequent meeting with the manipulative Guardian of the Universe known as Lianna (Laura Linney), John gives the ring back and refuses the offer to use it to take Hal’s place as a member of the Green Lantern Corps, noting that he no longer wants to be corrupted by possessing the superpowered weapon as Hal was. This shocked Lianna given that, after encountering her, John’s parents had put him through an abusive lifelong training regimen so that he could one day become a Lantern. But as surprising as John’s choice is in the context of this series, it echoes one made by an earlier DC TV character closely related to him.

John Diggle (David Ramsey,) was a main character on Arrow for all eight seasons of the Arrowverse’s flagship series. A Special Forces veteran turned bodyguard, Diggle (often referred to simply as “Dig”) was the first ally Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), the superhero eventually known as Green Arrow, recruited into his crusade against crime in Starling City. Although he was presented as an original character, fans of the series soon developed a theory that Diggle could be revealed as the Arrowverse’s adaptation of John Stewart, citing coincidental similarities and connections between the characters. The most significant of these was the fact that both served in the military. The other main justification for the theory was the famous friendship between Green Arrow and Green Lantern from the comics, despite the fact that the Lantern Oliver is known for being close to is Hal, not John.

Diggle Became The Arrowverse’s John Stewart

The “Diggle as John Stewart” idea was often treated as more of an inside joke among the fandom, rather than a serious theory. Therefore, reactions were divided among different fans when the series’ last two seasons embraced the notion by establishing that Diggle was in fact a member of the Stewart family and setting him on the path to becoming a Green Lantern. Unfortunately, reactions were more unanimously negative when the Green Lantern storyline was then cut short, before Diggle could ever suit up in the new superhero identity.

During Elseworlds, one of the Arrowverse’s crossover events, which aired during Arrow‘s seventh season, a group of crime fighters including Diggle encounter a version of Barry Allen/The Flash (John Wesley Shipp) from the alternate reality of Earth-90. This Barry apparently knew his Earth’s version of Diggle and asks the main one “why aren’t you wearing your ring?” Season 7, Episode 19 then introduced Dig’s stepfather, Roy Stewart (Ernie Hudson). The episode explains that the pair have a strained relationship, hence why Roy had never been referenced previously. After the pair make amends, Diggle acknowledges that he is a Stewart, though he continued to go by his birth name.

The Arrowverse’s Green Lantern Arc Disappointed Viewers

The Arrow series finale took place after the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, during which Oliver sacrificed his life to recreate the destroyed multiverse. Diggle plans to move to the city of Metropolis with his family after his friend’s funeral and his final scene in the episode shows him packing a car to do so when an object crashes down from the sky close by him. In the resulting crater he finds a box, with an item inside that glows with a bright green light when Diggle opens the box. Although the item is not shown directly, it was clearly implied to be a Green Lantern ring.

And while some initially assumed this was meant to be an open ending for the character implying that he would continue to have offscreen adventures as a Lantern, Ramsey quickly resumed guest starring on many of the remaining Arrowverse series. Most of these appearances were part of a serialized arc in which Diggle grappled with the possibility of becoming a Lantern, suggesting that viewers would eventually get to see him do so onscreen. However, it’s eventually revealed that he would have to leave his family in order to join the Lanterns Corps. Because of this, he ultimately refuses the ring at the end of the arc and his final appearance in The Flash Season 9 emphasized that the storyline was over.

This anti-climactic conclusion naturally confused and frustrated many viewers. Ramsey has since effectively confirmed that Diggle was not able to actually become a Lantern onscreen because Warner Brothers and/or DC restricted the Arrowverse’s access to the Green Lantern mythology. Despite acknowledging the resulting frustration, he argued that Diggle remaining with his family was the right decision from a character perspective. This makes Pierre’s Stewart refusing a ring in spite of his family’s wishes in Lanterns an ironic next step in the character’s onscreen history.

Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart Needs to Become Green Lantern

Despite the similarities between their situations and the fact that they’re technically based on the same comic book character, Dig and Pierre’s Stewart are very different people. And they have almost the exact opposite reasons for turning down their respective rings. Diggle does so because he learned throughout his time on the Arrowverse shows that one can fight to make the world a better place, whether as a superhero or in another form, while still maintaining a happy, fulfilling personal life with friends and family. For John, turning down the ring is an act of defiance against the Guardians’ manipulations, and, even more importantly, those of his parents. And, as shown in Episode 6, which is set ten years after the Rushville disaster, doing so allows John to both achieve the career he actually wants as an architect and make progress in reconciling with his brothers, from whom he’d previously grown estranged due to the special treatment their parents gave him.

Green Lantern fans don’t need to worry about the story of Pierre’s John coming to as abrupt an end as Diggle’s did. He’s already returned to Rushville and begun using Hal’s ring by the end of Episode 6. While for the moment he’s only doing so temporarily to solve Hal’s murder, it’s all but guaranteed that he will fully become a Lantern by the end of the HBO series’ first season, especially given that he is set to subsequently appear among other superheroes in the Superman sequel film, Man of Tomorrow. But while the promise of more Lantern action is of course exciting, it may be a challenge for the show to make John accepting the ring an emotionally satisfying conclusion. After everything his parents have done to John because of their obsessive desire for someone in the family to wield a ring, him actually doing so long-term could easily come across as a bleak end for his season-long arc, rather than a triumphant one. Hopefully the season’s two remaining episodes can avoid this so fans can enjoy a live-action version of the character finally becoming a Lantern without mixed feelings.      

New Trailer for Final Three Episodes of Lanterns Promises an Epic Conclusion—Watch It Here