The MCU may be known for a loose “house style,” but Lanterns once again shows the DCU is willing to tell pretty much any story. Starring Kyle Chandler’s Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart, Lanterns is a mystery story with so many layers. On the surface, it’s all about the DCU’s Manhunters – synthetic beings who’ve clearly established a stronghold in Rushville. Lanterns rewrites the Manhunters into Hal’s origin story, teasing Hal’s predecessor Abin Sur may have been killed by the supposed “last” Manhunter.
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Lanterns episode 2 isn’t exactly subtle, because Hal himself notices Rushville’s hospital is pretty much deserted; the implications are obvious, that (almost?) everyone at Rushville has been replaced by Manhunter doppelgangers. The Manhunters have taken the entire town, perhaps with the exception of Sheriff Kerry Kane. But, while this particular plot may seem pretty obvious, there are other mysteries rumbling in the show’s background. The most intriguing is John Stewart, Hal’s supposed successor, who we already know will never take up a Power Ring.
What’s Going On With John Stewart?
In the comics, John Stewart was an engineer who became a Green Lantern; in fact, he became one of their greatest leaders, taking command of the entire Green Lantern Corp. He’s well-known for some of the most sophisticated constructs, because his engineering background means he can envision pretty much anything, figuring out how to construct it on an internal level. The DCU’s John Stewart is very different, and there’s no hint of engineering in his backstory – meaning his constructs manifest very differently, as Lanterns episode 2 reveals.
In Lanterns, John’s second-ever construct defies everyone’s expectations. When Hal tells John to “fly,” he accidentally creates a bird – one that almost seems alive, following John around even when the Power Ring is a plane-flight away, and has completely lost its charge. Even Hal is impressed, although he naturally tries to hide it. You’d expect such a feat to mean Stewart is destined to be one of the greatest Green Lanterns in the DCU, but we know he won’t. Instead, the Ring will pass to Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner. We’ve already seen John in 2026, and he doesn’t have another Ring. What’s going on?
John Stewart’s Bird Construct Doesn’t Make Any Sense
Looking back, I think that construct is a major clue. Hal is particularly impressed by the fact John created a living being in a first flush of willpower, and he suggests there must be a pretty deep reason. But Hal also said John needed to maintain focus to keep the bird alive. Instead, the bird appears to be sustained even while John is unconscious. It has a panicked reaction when John’s mind is attacked, and then seems to disappear for a brief moment. But then it’s back, ready to be dissolved when John eventually chooses to dismiss it.
Think about that for a moment: this construct continues to exist miles away from the Power Ring, and at a time when the Ring has completely lost its charge. John’s willpower sustains it while he’s unconscious. That brief period of silence – after John has experienced memories of a Manhunter genocide – is particularly striking, because I initially thought it had dissolved when John lost focus. But then it was apparently “back,” fluttering and twittering as though nothing had changed. This behavior doesn’t fit at all with standard Green Lantern constructs.
Sure, it’s possible John Stewart is just a prodigy. That’s certainly true in the comics, although his innate talents don’t lend themselves to anything quite like this. Rather, I think there’s another reason – and, if I’m right, episode 2 even dropped a major clue. When Hal approaches Sinestro for information about the Manhunters, the rogue Lantern confirms the scale of their threat – and then asks Hal to tell him all about John Stewart. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
Is John Stewart Actually a Manhunter?
Is it possible John Stewart is in fact another Manhunter? In the comics, the Manhunters were the Lanterns’ predecessors; synthetic beings created by the Guardians of the Universe to enforce justice. They went rogue, and became one of the Lanterns’ greatest enemies. It’s so easy to imagine a scenario where the Manhunters decided the best way to protect themselves was to worm their way into the Green Lantern Corps; perhaps they even replaced a Guardian, explaining why the rules changed and John Stewart has been chosen, rather than leaving it up to the Ring to pick Hal’s replacement.
This would certainly fit with John’s unusual construct. It’s reasonable to assume the Manhunter technology has some loose relationship with that of the Green Lanterns; both systems were created by the Guardians, after all. If that’s the case, John’s construct could have been drawing power from his own systems rather than the Power Ring. His android mind would still be operating while unconscious, explaining why he sustained it, although even that was presumably disrupted when his mind was attacked with Manhunter-related memories. When normality returned, the construct was restored.
In the comics, the Manhunters have frequently infiltrated entire planetary systems; but, crucially, not every Manhunter replacement knows what they really are. Is John a Manhunter sleeper agent, completely unaware of his true nature? That would explain why Sinestro moved from a Manhunter discussion to questions about John; because he’s suspicious, now Hal has alerted him to the Manhunter threat
Lanterns is clearly all about the Manhunter conspiracy, and this twist would be a shocking one. And yet, if this theory is right, it leaves us with yet more questions; why has Hal died in 2026, and why is John still connected to him? It’s possible Lanterns will actually end with Hal deciding to leave some of the Manhunters be at Rushville, while John is still out there. I can’t really explain why he’s do that, not yet, but so far the overall theory seems to hold up.
Lanterns is now streaming on HBO Max.
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