BvS Which Green Lantern should be used?

[The Endless]

Well yea exactly. I think John would be interesting. It'd be like if the General from MoS was a Green Lantern, in a way. Maybe he'd still liaise with the military so we'd get their POV of Superman and co.

If you choose John, but give him Hal's personality, it is making him a "token" character. If they go for John, it should be because of his actual character, not just because he's black.

If a characters defining trait or sole reason of being is their ethnicity or sexuality or whatever... they are a pretty poor character in my eyes.

 

[Rorschach2012]

I just realized something, John Stewart is the first black superhero of the DC universe. That's awesome. He doesn't have many great storylines featuring him as the lead character, but that's really awesome that he was their first black superhero. That's reason enough to see John Stewart on film.

 

[MrsKent26]

It seems Winter Soldier and Alpha Flight are both Hal fans and don't believe John Stewart brings anything more to the table aside from diversity.

It also seems they're saying there's a cap on how many black characters should be used, so that post you made about no one saying that isn't correct and it might be better to just admit that when the posts are right there for all to see.

 

[113]

Thank you MrsKent for finding and compiling the evidence from just the last few pages of people saying this.

It also happened earlier in the thread. A bunch of people think Stewart's only worth is diversity, and then claim that everyone who likes the character only likes him because of it.

That's insulting and THAT'S what I call an agenda - an "anti-PC" agenda. They ignore all the other points about the character that people like and just take up this foolish crusade against "PC" Hollywood while ignoring what people are actually saying about the characters.

So thank you again for collecting some of the evidence of it.

 

[Zionite1]

Have you seen/read Hal in Justice League: The New Frontier?

No.Havent read it?why?

 

[Rorschach2012]

It also seems they're saying there's a cap on how many black characters should be used, so that post you made about no one saying that isn't correct and it might be better to just admit that when the posts are right there for all to see.

I won't admit that. To me, it doesn't come off that way. It comes off as a couple of silver age/classic DC fans that don't think diversity should factor in so heavily to the DC lineup. And because DC's most recent way of appeasing the diversity complaints includes replacing a fan favorite character for a minority character , one could assume that the movies will be following the same formula. The New 52 lineup answer to diversity is Wonder Woman and Cyborg. Both Cyborg and Wonder Woman are going to be in the movie Justice League, is it wrong for Alpha Flight and Winter Soldier to assume that WB believes the diversity mandate has been met by using those characters in their movies?

 

[HighFivingMF]

I just realized something, John Stewart is the first black superhero of the DC universe. That's awesome. He doesn't have many great storylines featuring him as the lead character, but that's really awesome that he was their first black superhero. That's reason enough to see John Stewart on film.

I think Black Racer and Mal Duncan came before him.

 

[MrsKent26]

I won't admit that. To me, it doesn't come off that way. It comes off as a couple of silver age/classic DC fans that don't think diversity should factor in so heavily to the DC lineup. And because DC's most recent way of appeasing the diversity complaints includes replacing a fan favorite character for a minority character , one could assume that the movies will be following the same formula. The New 52 lineup answer to diversity is Wonder Woman and Cyborg. Both Cyborg and Wonder Woman are going to be in the movie Justice League, is it wrong for Alpha Flight and Winter Soldier to assume that WB believes the diversity mandate has been met by using those characters in their movies?

*sigh*

Alrighty then. If you want to make excuses for those types of views, that's your business.

 

[The Endless]

What DC did with Wally, if that is what you are referring to, is a disgrace though. Well totally idiotic might be more accurate.

They want more diversity right? So people other than white kids can relate and root for him? Sure no problem. So what do they do? Make Wally a black kid (well mixed raced at least) but give him these horrible traits like he's always in trouble with the law, hates authority, his dad ran out on him and his mom... and he needs a kind white man to show him the way...

What the hell were they thinking when they thought that would be a good idea? It's insane.

 

[lc23]

*sigh*

Alrighty then. If you want to make excuses for those types of views, that's your business.

Did you ever know that you're my heroooooo...

 

[MrsKent26]

Thank you MrsKent for finding and compiling the evidence from just the last few pages of people saying this.

It also happened earlier in the thread. A bunch of people think Stewart's only worth is diversity, and then claim that everyone who likes the character only likes him because of it.

That's insulting and THAT'S what I call an agenda - an "anti-PC" agenda. They ignore all the other points about the character that people like and just take up this foolish crusade against "PC" Hollywood while ignoring what people are actually saying about the characters.

So thank you again for collecting some of the evidence of it.

Thank you for this thoughtful post. Well said.

What DC did with Wally, if that is what you are referring to, is a disgrace though. Well totally idiotic might be more accurate.

They want more diversity right? So people other than white kids can relate and root for him? Sure no problem. So what do they do? Make Wally a black kid (well mixed raced at least) but give him these horrible traits like he's always in trouble with the law, hates authority, his dad ran out on him and his mom... and he needs a kind white man to show him the way...

What the hell were they thinking when they thought that would be a good idea? It's insane.

Ugh, that does sounds terrible. Sounds like they went about that in the wrong way and used some stereotypes when they reworked the character.

 

[Rorschach2012]

The problem with DC is there aren't enough great minority heroes. The answer to this problem isn't racebending or shoehorning secondary/B-list characters in the movies, the answer lies with the writers at DC comics. They need to create better minority characters, and they keep dropping the ball... New 52 Wally is a disgrace, and John Stewart is constantly sidelined in favor of Hal, no wonder so many Green Lantern readers prefer Hal to John. DC basically forced us to dislike him when they focus so little on him in the comics.

 

[The Endless]

Who actually is responsible for Nu52 Wally? Was it Didio himself? Whoever it was is a ****ing ******. I mean seriously. How can someones mind work in such a way that they thought that'd be a good idea?

 

[HighFivingMF]

John Stewart is constantly sidelined in favor of Hal, no wonder so many Green Lantern readers prefer Hal to John. DC basically forced us to dislike him when they focus so little on him in the comics.

He hasn't been sidelined though, he's just... Not the main character of the franchise. He's been at the very least a co-star in his own book since the New 52 started, and for the last year he's had GLC all to himself while Hal has GL, Guy has Red Lanterns, and Kyle has New Guardians. If anyone is sidelined, it's Baz.

 

[113]

The problem with DC is there aren't enough great minority heroes. The answer to this problem isn't racebending or shoehorning secondary/B-list characters in the movies, the answer lies with the writers at DC comics. They need to create better minority characters, and they keep dropping the ball... New 52 Wally is a disgrace, and John Stewart is constantly sidelined in favor of Hal, no wonder so many Green Lantern readers prefer Hal to John. DC basically forced us to dislike him when they focus so little on him in the comics.

Well now you're getting to a wider problem. We need there to be more minority characters (and writers) in comics in general, DC specifically. Why did it take until Dwayne McDuffie, Bruce Timm, and Andrew Romano to make Stewart a top-notch character?

1) DC never focused on him

2) I could be wrong, but I don't think they put the best writing talent to work writing him in comics prior

3) Readers didn't buy Stewart books because they didn't want to see a black character (Oh and before you poo-poo this as a potential reason and say "i'm playing the race card" let me remind you that Milestone Comics had some of the highest quality content being published in the 90s yet they couldn't find a reader base and shuttered).

Not to mention, prior to JL/U you're right that Stewart didn't have much in the way of story arcs that were interesting, at least that I'm personally familiar with. But then someone at WB (whether Timm, McDuffie, or even a suit) said "we need more diversity on this team." And you know what - as you've already admitted, Stewart ended up being portrayed extremely well on the series. All because he had great potential as a character and because of "diversity for diversity's sake."

And back in 2011 DC finally found a writer that could do justice to Stewart on page (and frankly Gardner as well); Peter Tomasi.

 

[Rorschach2012]

He hasn't been sidelined though, he's just... Not the main character of the franchise. He's been at the very least a co-star in his own book since the New 52 started, and for the last year he's had GLC all to himself while Hal has GL, Guy has Red Lanterns, and Kyle has New Guardians. If anyone is sidelined, it's Baz.

If they want John Stewart to be one of their marquee characters, then they're sidelining him. If they want stronger minority characters, John Stewart would be a good place to start, but he'll always be a side character in the Green Lantern comics universe. If they want people to take John Stewart seriously in the comics, he needs to be portrayed as an equal to Hal. Maybe the main Green Lantern title could focus equally on John and Hal? Then it would be less jarring for John to be the movie GL instead of Hal.

DC doesn't know how to handle its minority characters. my problem with Cyborg being thrown on the Justice League is that he doesn't shine on that team at all. He's overshadowed by the other characters. Cyborg's place was on the Teen Titans where he and Nightwing can be the stars. That's where he would really shine, but it looks like he's going to be a minor character on the Justice League for years to come. They should've just put more focus on the Titans title, with Cyborg and Nightwing pushed as the "Superman and Batman" of the Titans series.

 

[The Endless]

I much prefer Tomasi's GL work to Johns, funnily enough.

 

[113]

He hasn't been sidelined though, he's just... Not the main character of the franchise. He's been at the very least a co-star in his own book since the New 52 started, and for the last year he's had GLC all to himself while Hal has GL, Guy has Red Lanterns, and Kyle has New Guardians. If anyone is sidelined, it's Baz.

I think he's pointing out that up until the New 52 Stewart was largely sidelined. I've said numerous times in this thread how much I've enjoyed reading Green Lantern Corps in the New-52 because of how well John's personality shines through. They finally got good writers to write him, and they focused on him. And now it's paying dividends in terms of quality. I'm not sure how the books have sold, but I hope they're doing well.

 

[113]

If they want John Stewart to be one of their marquee characters, then they're sidelining him. If they want stronger minority characters, John Stewart would be a good place to start, but he'll always be a side character in the Green Lantern comics universe. If they want people to take John Stewart seriously in the comics, he needs to be portrayed as an equal to Hal. Maybe the main Green Lantern title could focus equally on John and Hal? Then it would be less jarring for John to be the movie GL instead of Hal.

DC doesn't know how to handle its minority characters. my problem with Cyborg being thrown on the Justice League is that he doesn't shine on that team at all. He's overshadowed by the other characters. Cyborg's place was on the Teen Titans where he and Nightwing can be the stars. That's where he would really shine, but it looks like he's going to be a minor character on the Justice League for years to come. They should've just put more focus on the Titans title, with Cyborg and Nightwing pushed as the "Superman and Batman" of the Titans series.

I've agreed with you on Cyborg actually. I was never a fan of his (I found his angsty backstory with his dad cringeworthy, and his powers lame) until more recently when I've slowly warmed up to him. But the question is why have I warmed up to him (and it's not just me)? Well it's because DC decided to focus on him, and stayed with their vision for the character. If they continue to focus on him Cyborg can eventually become a character really worthy of sitting alongside Supes, Bats, Wondy, etc...He's not there yet, but he has potential now.

But why did they choose Cyborg and not another character? Part of it was obviously because the team needed diversity and they had decided to move away from Stewart, unfortunately.

The point I'm making is that you make changes by deciding to make changes. Creating a minority character and then not pushing/promoting that character in visible mediums does nothing.

 

[The Endless]

That's because most comic readers read what they are told to read and like what they are told to like.

If John Stewart was given an A-List writer and was made THE Green Lantern starring in big cross over events you can bet your bottom dollar he'd get many more fans.

 

[HighFivingMF]

I've agreed with you on Cyborg actually. I was never a fan of his (I found his angsty backstory with his dad cringeworthy, and his powers lame) until more recently when I've slowly warmed up to him. But the question is why have I warmed up to him (and it's not just me)? Well it's because DC decided to focus on him, and stayed with their vision for the character. If they continue to focus on him Cyborg can eventually become a character really worthy of sitting alongside Supes, Bats, Wondy, etc...He's not there yet, but he has potential now.

But why did they choose Cyborg and not another character? Part of it was obviously because the team needed diversity and they had decided to move away from Stewart, unfortunately.

The point I'm making is that you make changes by deciding to make changes. Creating a minority character and then not pushing/promoting that character in visible mediums does nothing.

And Cyborg was a part of the Superfriends line-up when Johns was a kid.

 

[113]

That's because most comic readers read what they are told to read and like what they are told to like.

If John Stewart was given an A-List writer and was made THE Green Lantern starring in big cross over events you can bet your bottom dollar he'd get many more fans.

Exactly! That's my point. But you have to start somewhere right? Well the biggest medium you can possible start is on the big screen! The filmmakers are creators too, just like comic writers. They could decide to include John Stewart and make him one of the most dynamic figures in the Justice League movie if they want. If they do that, he could become a fan favorite and that would push comic sales too.

 

[psylockolussus]

I voted for Hal Jordan!

 

[Boy Scout]

Cyborg does nothing for me. I've never liked him.

If we get Hal for JL (and I'm convinced that we will), I'd like to see John in the inevitable solo movie.

 

[Tv's Phil]

Let's just hope whoever they use, that the GL Corps isn't made to seem secondary to the character as they did in the movie.

If you're going to put Green Lanterns on screen, put Green Lanterns on screen. In all their glory.
Reference the other Lanterns, the Guardians, things the Lanterns have had to deal with.
Make people say "I want to see more about that in a solo movie! " or "Why wasn't that in the movie from 2011?!"