LANTERNS Gives John Stewart a Dark New Origin in Its Best Episode Yet

Lanterns has already established that its version of Green Lantern mythology isn’t going to follow the comics beat for beat, but Episode 3, “OutKast,” takes its biggest swing yet. The series completely reworks John Stewart’s origin, connecting his family to the Green Lantern Corps long before he ever puts on the ring.

It’s a major departure, but it works. In fact, in my opinion, this detour from the show’s central mystery delivers the best episode of the season so far.

The premiere introduced Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart as a Green Lantern trainee working alongside Kyle Chandler’s veteran Hal Jordan, who has carried the ring for more than a decade. We also learned a little about Hal’s history and the unusual way the ring tested him before choosing him.

According to Hal, it asked him one question: “Are you afraid?” Episode 3 reveals that Hal wasn’t the first person on Earth to hear those words.

John Stewart has gone through several different histories in DC Comics. His original appearance in Green Lantern #87 introduced him as an architect with strong views on civil rights.

Later versions changed his family history, including stories involving an alcoholic father, while DC’s New 52 continuity added a military background. John became a former Marine who eventually studied architecture.

Lanterns pulls pieces from those different incarnations while creating something much darker. This John is a former Marine sniper whose military career was derailed by a mission that went wrong. He was later given an opportunity to attend art school, preserving another connection to the creative side of his comic book counterpart.

The biggest change, however, begins before John can even remember it. The premiere included the disturbing scene of John’s father placing an apple on his son’s head and firing at it, forcing the boy to remain still as a lesson in controlling fear.

Episode 3 reveals this wasn’t some isolated act from a reckless parent. John grew up being subjected to these tests. There was a reason for them.

When Abin Sur crashed on Earth and his ring began searching for a replacement, it found John Stewart’s father, John Sr., before eventually choosing Hal Jordan.

John Sr. was given the same test. “Are you afraid?” His answer was yes. That failure follows him for the rest of his life and provides Lanterns with its own version of the troubled father found in portions of John’s comic history.

Here, his drinking and personal collapse are tied to the knowledge that he had been considered for something extraordinary and failed because he couldn’t overcome his fear.

The situation gets more interesting when one of the Guardians visits the Stewart family while John is still a baby. The Guardian offers John’s mother compensation for the damage the selection process caused his father, but the conversation reveals something far more important.

The Guardians believe John Sr.’s genetics could make his children potential Green Lantern candidates. If John can be raised without fear, he could someday become exactly what his father couldn’t.

John’s mother takes that possibility seriously. From that point forward, John is essentially trained by his parents for the Green Lantern Corps.

He grows up knowing that the Guardians are watching him, supposedly using birds to observe his progress. His parents repeatedly put him into dangerous situations designed to test how he reacts under pressure. His childhood becomes one long preparation for a destiny someone else picked for him.

It completely changes the meaning of John Stewart’s famous willpower. In the comics, that strength is part of the man John becomes through his experiences, convictions, military service, and personality.

In Lanterns, those qualities have also been cultivated since childhood. He has spent his entire life being taught that fear is something he has to defeat because one day a Green Lantern ring may come looking for him.

Episode 3 cleverly frames this history through an interview between the adult John and one of the Guardians, who is determining whether he’s finally ready for the role he has spent his life preparing to inherit.

There’s another complication waiting for him with Hal Jordan. The Guardians aren’t particularly happy with the Green Lantern currently protecting the sector. Hal is frequently reprimanded, and they’re already looking toward his replacement. John suddenly finds himself in the position his family spent years preparing him for.

He wasn’t merely lucky enough to be selected. In this version of the DCU, John Stewart was practically engineered to become the next Green Lantern.

That creates an interesting dynamic between John and Hal moving forward. John has spent his life preparing for this responsibility, while Hal is the guy currently standing between him and the destiny he was promised.

John has the discipline, determination, and confidence to believe the ring belongs on his finger, while the Guardians appear more than willing to encourage that belief.

It’s a pretty radical rewrite of John Stewart’s history, but Lanterns makes the change feel connected to the character rather than simply different for the sake of being different. His military background remains aloing with pieces of his family history. His creative side remains, but most importantly, his incredible willpower remains central to who he is.

The show has simply given all of those pieces a new and much more unsettling context. Episode 3 may spend less time on the larger mystery driving Lanterns, but that turns out to be one of its strengths.

By focusing on John, his family, and the insane circumstances that shaped him, the series gives Pierre more material to dig into while making his eventual place in the Green Lantern Corps feel far more complicated.

John Stewart has been preparing for this job his entire life.