For years, the Arrowverse on The CW provided a haven for DC fans. From Arrow to Legends of Tomorrow and everything in between, it provided tons of crossovers, big adventures and heroes (as well as villains) from every corner of the DC Universe. One hero that never got folded into the universe was Green Lantern. A few key creatives tried hard to make it happen though.
David Ramsey, who played John Diggle on Arrow, was being teed up as a possible member of the Green Lantern Corps. throughout his run in the Arrowverse. In a recent interview with Screen Rant, he addressed why it never came to pass.
“Marc [Guggenheim] and I tried for six seasons,” Ramsey said. “Obviously, there is a lot of politics around property as big as Lantern. Of course, it would have been great.”
For those who may not recall, Diggle at one point during the Elseworlds crossover John Wesley Shipp’s Flash came from another universe and said, “John, where’s your ring?” This was a clear and direct reference to Green Lantern’s Power Ring. “It wasn’t for a lack of trying,” Ramsey added. “But the right decision was made.”
At the time, there was a lot of studio politics surrounding DC at Warner Bros. Eventually, in early 2022, James Gunn and Peter Safran were hired to reboot the DC Universe as the heads of DC Studios. They have since green lit a Lanterns TV show for HBO. Aaron Pierre (Rebel Ridge) is playing John Stewart, with Kyle Chandler (Godzilla: King of the Monsters) on board as Hal Jordan. A version of the show was in development even before Gunn and Safron took over. Speaking further, Ramsey spoke to how all of that went down, from his view.
“I think, honestly, personally, there was so much going on at the time that it’s in the hands it should be in now. Because I’m not quite sure what would have happened with as much as was going on politically, with the property.”
“I think the reason why Diggle didn’t become the Lantern was on point for his character,” Ramsey concluded.
This is far from the only time politics at Warner Bros. got in the way of what the Arrowverse wanted to do. Stephen Amell tried to get an Arrow movie made, which was later killed by the studio. Ramsey was also due to headline an Arrow spin-off titled Justice U, which was later scrapped.
Lanterns is set to premiere in 2026 on HBO and HBO Max.
What do you think? Are you bummed Green Lantern never made it to the Arrowverse? Or do you think it was better off this way? Join in on the conversation over on Facebook or Twitter!
