Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Andrew Sanford | News | August 31, 2026
Introduced in 1994, Kyle Rayner was the fourth human Earthling to be chosen to join the Green Lantern Corps. However, it happened kind of suddenly. Hal Jordan, denied the ability to recreate his home city (destroyed by Mongul and Cyborg Superman) with his ring, went on a crazed rampage. He destroyed the Green Lanterns in the process, leaving one lone Guardian of the Universe to entrust the ring to someone, anyone, else. That Guardian found Kyle Rayner in the back alley of a bar and said, “You, I guess?”
I worked enough comic conventions with men 10-20 years older than me to know the character wasn’t well received at first. Not only were readers mad about Hal Jordan’s relatively sudden madness, but this new character felt like they were given the ring for no reason, and he was declared the last Green Lantern. Eventually, Rayner would be fleshed out more. His character would be given more importance in the universe, and he would help rebuild the Lanterns with the likes of John Stewart, Guy Gardner, and a reformed Hal Jordan.
We’ve seen three of the four original “Earth Lanterns” in James Gunn’s DCU (Gardner, Stewart, Jordan). If I had to guess, we’ll likely see more in the coming years. Jessica Cruz, first created in 2013, is getting her own cartoon show and feels like a great candidate. There’s also Sojourner “Jo” Mullein, who was created by author N.K. Jemisin and has become incredibly popular since being introduced in 2020. But it probably won’t be Kyle Rayner, because, despite numerous changes over the years, he’s always been an artist, and that’s John Stewart’s thing now.
Episode 3 of Lanterns gave us a look at John Stewart’s origins, helping us understand why we saw his father shoot an apple off his head when he was a child. In an exciting twist not present in the comics, Stewart’s origins are tied directly to Hal Jordan’s. It turns out that when Abin Sur’s ring went out to find a replacement, it went to John’s dad, John Stewart Sr., and he was too afraid to take the opportunity. We don’t know if he was the first to be approached, as it’s later revealed that many candidates failed to accept the power, but regardless, it messed John Sr. up.
He falls into a pit of drunkenness and despair, leading his wife, Bernadette Stewart, to kick him out of the house. However, she has a change of heart when she’s visited by a Guardian of the Universe in human form who attempts to apologize for the trauma the family has endured by offering an obscenely large diamond. Bernadette does not accept it, instead making the Guardian aware that John Sr. was, of course, afraid of the ring suddenly lifting him out of his bed in a bubble of green light because he’s a black man in America and he constantly has to keep his head on a swivel, but Bernadette makes it clear that he would have been a good candidate for the same reason.
The Guardian agrees and suggests that, one day, their baby, John, may be a perfect candidate. So, Bernadette and John Sr. spend John’s life harshly training him. They kick him out of the car at night in bad neighborhoods. They don’t let him spend much time with his brothers. Despite having a loving home, they force a traumatic existence on him, all described by John during an interview with the same Guardian who visited Bernadette all those years earlier. It’s a struggle, but when John finally gets the job, he’s incredibly excited to tell his parents, but Hal, not happy to be given a partner, spoils that opportunity.
In addition to John’s complex relationship with his parents, the Green Lanterns, and Hal, we find out that John has always just wanted to draw. It’s been his secret passion. While he eventually becomes a high-ranking Marine, Stewart is dishonorably discharged thanks to Hal Jordan, who inadvertently (and drunkenly) interfered in a sniper mission John was on. After being removed from the Marines, his mother encourages him to go to art school, and that side of him flourishes, while some alternate-universe live-action version of Kyle Rayner accuses him of stolen valor.
I love when comic book adaptations make changes to the books they’re adapting that enrich the property, and that is certainly what happened here. Stewart being morphed into a Green Lantern because his dad was passed up is something I’d bet dollars to donuts we see reflected in the comics in the coming years. It’s too good of an idea to pass up, and it even eschews the stereotypical direction by having John’s parents still be loving, conflicted people who question what they are doing. But the art school stuff? That’s less likely to carry over.
As I mentioned, Kyle Rayner is an artist in the comics, and it’s part of what sets him apart from the other Green Lanterns. John, meanwhile, was introduced as a college-educated architect, a big deal for a black character in 1971. He was later given a military background in the Justice League cartoon, which was expanded on in the comics a few years later. His ability to draw doesn’t mean that he won’t be an architect at some point in Gunn’s DCU, but it does give me the feeling that we won’t see Kyle Rayner brought to life.
There are plenty of reasons not to have your fourth hero sharing the same name be a third straight white man, and there are other options, but making Stewart an artist pretty much seals Rayner’s fate regarding being adapted. They could change up his story, but unlike with Stewart’s, where they are enhancing elements that are already present, not having Rayner be an artist would require them to basically start from scratch. Not impossible! But at that point, you’re better off introducing a Mullein, Cruz, or even Keli Quintela (that’s Teen Lantern, to you).
What really matters here is that the show isn’t letting comic book details get in the way of the story they’re trying to tell. Stewart’s connection to art gives him a relatable quality, as he isn’t really allowed to chase his own dreams because of what his parents want for him. His relationship with his parents is new, complex, and exciting. The Guardians are big (they’re usually Hobbit-sized), which felt more imposing when one revealed their true form to Bernadette. And all of this feels very intentional. They even had Hal reference the size of the Guardians after the reveal, as if to say, “Finally, I can talk about it.”
The show is incredibly well thought out, and I just don’t see them deciding to make John an artist without acknowledging, at least internally, that Kyle Rayner would not see his time in the DCU come to fruition. He’s built up quite the fan base over the years and is no longer the Alley Rat that he once was. Still, I know a few dudes who swear comic books haven’t been good since the 80s who are going to be PSYCHED.
