Forget Guy Gardner and Hal Jordan because the long-awaited Green Lantern Corps live-action series will star John Stewart.

Shortly after naming James Gunn and Peter Safran as the brain trust of all things DC Universe (formerly known as the DCEU), Warner Bros. Discovery announced Wednesday that, indeed, the mythical Green Lantern Corps HBO Max show is still in development, and Stewart will be the star. 

The last time anyone talked about HBO’s GL series, Guy Gardner was said to be leading the team, which seemed like a good choice. However, Stewart has a larger fan following, and the role is sure to attract some A-list names. That’s not to say we won’t see Gardner in some capacity, but Stewart has been tapped as the marquee name.

To many fans, this announcement has been long overdue. Ever since the box office failure of Ryan Reynolds’ Green Lantern in 2011, there has been talk that the franchise would reset with Stewart as the centerpiece. Then came talk of a possible Green Lantern buddy-cop movie starring Stewart and Reynolds’ Hal Jordan before speculation shifted to Stewart appearing in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. When none of those theories bore fruit, it seemed that we might never get this particular space cop on the big screen. True, there was Diggle getting his power ring in the Arrowverse, but he’s not actually John Stewart. 

Now, it seems we’ll finally get the real deal in live action. That should have you revving your engines for these key issues.

GREEN LANTERN #87

As always, the top of the wish lists will be John’s first appearance in Green Lantern #87. This issue also happened to have Guy’s second appearance, so that only sweetens the deal. Now that John has been confirmed for Green Lantern Corps., this issue should have a rocket strapped to its back in short order.

Shortly after Wednesday’s announcement, a graded 9.2 reached the $1,199 mark, which is down from the $1,600 average over the past year. Then again, virtually everything is down from a year ago, so that’s not a real concern. 

GREEN LANTERN #182

For those who aren’t willing to part with four figures for a higher grade GL #87, the next best option is GL #182. Here, John officially took over as Earth’s space cop supreme, picking up the reins after Hal quit the corps the previous issue.

By no means does this issue rank as high as John’s first appearance, but that only makes it easier on your budget. The last time a graded 9.8 traded hands online, it went for $155 in 2020. 

GREEN LANTERN #12 (2022)

Only months ago, John took on the role of Emerald Knight. That could be something we’ll see in the upcoming show. In fact, it makes me wonder if DC went the Marvel route and made the change knowing the idea would be for John to star in The Green Lantern Corps.

The great part is that it won’t cost you much at all. The standard cover sells on eBay for around $5, and there are plenty of variants to choose from as well.

A BRIGHT FUTURE

Putting John in the main role for the new show is a good move. As much as I love Guy Gardner, John should pull in the viewers, especially if he’s cast right. Again, I expect we will see Guy, Kilowog, Kyle Rayner, Alan Scott, and Jessica Cruz. If we’re lucky, the show will lead into the Sinestro Corps War and maybe even Blackest Night. Now let’s just hope it’s set mainly in space and not on Earth.

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*Any perceived investment advice is that of the freelance blogger and does not represent advice on behalf of GoCollect.