It’s been a long-standing Arrowverse fan theory that Arrow‘s John Diggle is actually a version of Green Lantern John Stewart, due to the two character’s similar names, appearance and backstory. Last year’s multi-part crossover “Elseworlds” brilliantly made this theory canon as when Earth-90’s Flash encountered Diggle, he was confused that “John” wasn’t wearing his ring. The inference was that Earth-90’s Diggle was a member of the Green Lantern Corps.
Seeing as “Elseworlds” was effectively one big prologue for 2019’s crossover event, “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” which promises to include even more world-hopping, character-crossover shenanigans, it feels like there’s a chance that we might actually get to see Diggle suit up as a Lantern in the near future. But what does star David Ramsey think of the possibility?
Ramsey was asked about this by TV Guide and explained that he’s really proud that he and the Arrow team have created a completely original character in Diggle but yes, he also finds the idea of playing Green Lantern irresistible.
“We’ve been talking about that ring since Season 1. I always loved the idea of being able to jump into the John Stewart mythos, obviously, but I also loved the idea that we were creating something that didn’t exist before. John Diggle never existed before. We created this character, Spartan, that never existed in the comics or in any other universe, and now it’s part of the comics. So that was always something and continues to be something I’m really proud of.”
Ramsey also made clear that he has no idea whether this will ever happen, though he’s on board with the notion if it does.
“But who can resist playing the Green Lantern? So yeah, was I excited when I saw that? Without a doubt. Will it ever happen? Who knows. I don’t have the answer to that — it’s way above my paygrade — but it’s something would love to do.”
Arrow showrunner Beth Schwartz and The Flash EP Todd Helbing were previously asked if the GL reference in “Elseworlds” was leading up to something in “Crisis” and the pair explained that they genuinely can’t answer that question, as the crossover hasn’t been written yet. No doubt, if this was something they wanted to explore, they’d have to clear the use of the character with Warner Bros. first, so that adds another obstacle.
But not so long ago we didn’t have any of the Batman world in the Arrowverse and now we’re getting a Batwoman TV show, so who knows what’s going to happen? To see Ramsey as regular ol’ dependable Diggle, though, be sure to catch Arrow season 7 every Monday on The CW.