Wow, well that's... extensive. My turn. *interlocks fingers and flips palms outwards in a stretch to crack knucles*
One thing I think it may be surprising to know is that
John Stewart, when he headlines a comic has been more popular than Hal. Back when John Stewart had Green Lantern Mosaic, he was selling 200,000 copies an issue, while Hal wasn't doing half that. Even now, ever since John Stewart took over Green Lantern Corps, it's been getting closer and closer to overtaking the main Green Lantern book in sales.
The point made, that John Stewart has more mainstream appeal than Hal Jordan is solid. Even the dressed down JLU version is more beloved by the GA, and would have brought them out to a GL movie in larger numbers. This is to say nothing of the comic book character who is simply too deep to be boiled down to Han Solo/Maverick. Over and over again, John has shown if he is put in a lead position, he proves to just be a better character and make for better stories than Hal. Now you might disagree that these stories that are more appealing to more people are better, and that's fine, but anyone who describes John Stewart as a stoic who doesn't work as a lead character simply needs to read more comics.
Now, this is not because Hal is a bad character by the way, but the nature of Hal and other characters like him is to be an expy for uber-machoness, and that limits what he can do and be as a character, because he has to be perfect, he has to be right, he has to be justified. John Stewart isn't justified, he's human, and that's why the stories that star him connect with people on a deeper level than Hal's stories do, even though Hal is much cooler, because that is his purpose, to be cool, cool gets old. Cool gets tiring. Perhaps not for the hardest core of fans, but for the GA, we've seen cool before, lots of times, and better than what Hal has to offer. Cool won't cut it.
Now Ror is talking about the Green Lantern mythology and how it should be, and he has a point too, that the GL mythology is built with Hal at the forefront, no matter what, it finds a way to put him the center of the action and the decision making. It just seems like the more it does that, the more Hal is put up front and expected to be as beloved as he was by the children who first encountered him 30 years ago - and for the same reasons - the less he's actually liked. I think that might be a good lesson for the GL franchise to learn. John Stewart and his particular viewpoints were instrumental in making JLU what it was, but Hal Jordan really is along for the ride in his storylines. Anyone who was naturally the best GL ever could do that, and characters with real personalities would be more interesting doing so, and would actually drive the story with more than just their overwhelming abilities.
GLTAS was a great series, but the John Stewart episodes of the JL and JLU are still looked back upon
fondly and with critical acclaim ten years later, they were not just more beloved than GLTAS (the entire JLTAS was), but they were among the most commercially and critically successful episodes of JLTAS. This kind of nuanced personal drama is exactly why John makes for a better lead, why the layered 'butchered' GL mythos was more appealing to the populace than the "proper" one from GLTAS/GL2011 and why I am now convinced, more than ever, after examining John's performance and reception as a lead that John Stewart is the Green Lantern to lead the franchise, and that every time he does, every bit of the GL franchise, Hal Jordan included, is better off for it.
But your point does matter going forward, because even though he's not as appealing, all things being equal, Hal is written to be the center of the GL universe. You do have to rewrite the mythos where Hal sort of becomes the Abin Sur, swept up into Parallax prompting them to recruit another human from earth, whom the secretly traitorous Sinestro makes it his personal responsibility to train, since, y'know, John is someone who actually receives training instead of blowing it off and being naturally the best GL of all time. Again, nuance, necessary interaction, real tension, makings of a great character and story. You take Carol Ferris and make her John's boss, she's the woman who finally gives him a job, a chance, and so when she gets all Sapphic, well... tough times are here again. This not only allows for these characters to be full characters beyond their servitude of the lead, making the mythos stronger, but it also eschews the tropes of 'damsel in distress' and 'by the book foil to the rogue is actually a true villain.' Not because these tropes are bad, but because they are, in concert, well played out.
So the actual advantages John offers are:
- Diversity of appearance - John doesn't look like every other superhero lead, on account of being black
- Diversity of personality - John is at times, stoic, reflective, angry, depressed, obscenely idealistic and cynically critical
- Diversity of storylines - Being the main GL, being a back up GL, running the GLC, being crippled, being a Darkstar, being a Marine Corps sniper, being an out of work architect, the Xanshi tragedy, organizing and holding the Mosaic world together, becoming a Guardian, losing a wife, rehabilitating a villain... if we look at John's actual storylines, he's done it all, and done it big.
- Diversity of constructs - as a military man and an engineer, John has the most grounded and interesting constructs around, not counting Kyle's cartoonish flights of fancy
- More commercial appeal
- More critical appeal
- Being more iconic
to the GA
In short:
- Being able to do everything Hal can do
and
- Being able to do stuff Hal cannot do
Hal's selling points essentially boil down to:
- He's cooler
- He's the center of the GL mythos
So the question for the next filmmaker is, can we make Hal as appealing as John has proven to be, as diverse and layered and versatile and interesting as John has proven to be, can we make him as important culturally as John has proven to be... or is it easier if we just make John a bit cooler and put him the center of the mythos?
The choice is clear, the numbers speak for themselves, so why is it rarely chosen, or canceled when John is outselling Hal? Let's talk about what Hal really has going for him:
- He's white, meaning he's seen as more marketable, whether that's true or not
- Someone in power (Geoff Johns) wants him to be the lead
That's what Hal has going for him, and none of that is going away. Too bad, John Stewart has done wonders for the GL mythos in the past, he should be allowed to again.
I love Hal's personality. He's so much more fun than John. That's what people like about Hal. I've said a million times he's a Han Solo/Kirk type and those types of characters are incredibly appealing.
I'll never be convinced that he's the right choice for the lead of a movie series. The story is right in front of your eyes. Sinestro/Atrocitus/Blackest Night. There's the movie series.
t:
Still, I've provided numbers and examples.
