James Gunn has once again taken the time over on Twitter to debunk the rumors. The co-CEO of DC Studios replied “Fake” to a deleted tweet that reported “John Stewart’s Green Lantern series has been cancelled! I believe this because James has bigger plans for the Lanterns.” The deleted tweet cites insider Daniel Richtman (@DanielRPK) as the source of the information.
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) December 26, 2022 Gunn’s reply comes after reports that the series’ showrunner Seth Grahame-Smith as well as actors Jeremy Irvine and Finn Wittrock have left the show. Irvine and Wittrock were believed to be cast in the roles of Alan Scott and Guy Gardner, respectively. The previous reports say the series would focus solely on John Stewart, one of DC’s longest-serving Green Lanterns. The Green Lantern series started development in 2019 with Arrow showrunner Greg Berlanti leading the project. Berlanti also wrote the script for the 2011 Green Lantern movie starring Ryan Reynolds. When the series was announced, it was described as the “biggest DC show ever made,” having an estimated budget in the region of $120 million. After the merger of Warner Bros. Discovery, the budget was reportedly reduced by a significant amount. The Hollywood Reporter revealed that “the show’s budget going forward is expected to be significantly less as HBO Max, under David Zaslav’s combined Warner Bros. Discovery, is focusing on right-sizing its various assets.” The lower budget led Berlanti to develop the series solely focusing on John Stewart instead of featuring stories for multiple Green Lantern Corp members. No actor has been attached to the role of Stewart as of writing. Fans of the Green Lantern can breathe a sigh of relief now that James Gunn has eased fan concerns HBO has scrapped the show. However, it may take a while for Green Lantern to hit the streaming service.
The future of the DC Universe
These are interesting times at DC Studios as James Gunn and Peter Safran are preparing to reveal their ten-year plan for the DC Universe after the new year. DC is in the midst of a massive shakeup after it was reported that key actors are not going to be part of the new DC Universe. Henry Cavill will not be returning as Superman. Both Gunn and Cavill have confirmed the news that the long-time Superman actor’s time with DC is up. Gunn recently said that the role will be recast to a younger actor and the story will focus on the start of Clark Kent’s career as a reporter for the Daily Planet. There are also speculations that Jason Momoa will have his final outing as Aquaman in the upcoming Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. There are rumors that the Aquaman star will be taking on the role of Lobo in the DCU. Dwayne Johnson will also not be returning as Black Adam, for now. Johnson just recently debuted in the DC Universe as the antihero Teth-Adam. The movie’s profitability has been questioned after it was revealed that the production cost ballooned after needing twenty days of reshoots. The fate of Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman and Ezra Miller’s The Flash are still unknown at this point. Wonder Woman 3, in its current form, was canceled. Miller’s return as The Flash is highly unlikely after the actor’s recent legal troubles.
