Remember when Legends of Tomorrow introduced the Justice Society of America? They made a big deal of the JSA’s arrival, with the cliffhanger at the end of season 1 seeing Suits actor Patrick Adams dropping by as Hourman. Adams didn’t get much to do as the character though as he was swiftly killed off in season 2, and the JSA as a whole fizzled out after a few episodes. Originally, though, producers had much bigger plans for the team, with their line-up intended to include Green Lantern.
This is something that’s been rumored for a while, but now we’ve finally had it confirmed, as concept artist Andy Poon has shared an awesome piece of artwork he created of how Alan Scott’s Lantern could appear in the Arrowverse. He revealed that Adams was supposed to play the role, but DC ultimately didn’t approve the pitch, which meant they had to go with Hourman instead. For this piece, Poon depicted Ryan Reynolds as the hero, given his starring role in 2011’s Green Lantern.
The Arrowverse did eventually get to dip into the Lantern mythos at long last this past January, of course. First, “Crisis on Infinite Earths” featured a brief clip from Reynolds’ GL movie to tease HBO Max’s incoming Green Lantern series. Then, in the Arrow finale, John Diggle found what had to be a Green Power Ring, hinting that he’s about to become a Lantern off-screen. Whether or not Diggle factors into the HBO Max show or not, we don’t know right now.
As for the JSA, the team is about to be rebooted on TV in the Stargirl series, starring Brec Bassinger as Courtney Whitmore, which will air simultaneously on both DC Universe and The CW when it arrives in a few months’ time. There’s no release date for the Green Lantern show yet, but the streaming service launches in May. Legends of Tomorrow, meanwhile, continues its fifth season on Tuesdays.