Watched the first episode. Liked it, looking forward to the next episode. Drama with very little humor. Despite that the first episode reminded me quite a bit of Men in Black. Hal Jordan is the crusty, burned-out guy who is kind of an asshole recruiting his replacement to deal with aliens. His recruit looks, sounds and acts a little like Will Smith.
I liked it. Hal may have been a little too crusty but I liked that he was very good at his job. Curious to see where this all goes.
One issue I do have with this current incarnation of the DCU is they seem allergic to making superhero stuff a kid could watch. Basically the only thing that fits that is Superman last year (and maybe Supergirl). A kid would be bored to tears by this.
Not everything has to be for families but it’s kind of weird that almost nothing in the DCU is made for families.
I kind of like the “gritty Green Lantern” treatment. At least it wasn’t all wish-fulfillment with the Power Ring, which is used extremely sparingly.
On the other hand we’ve already got a frequently drunken and sometimes a poor strategist Hal Jordan and a John Stewart who already managed to get things in a twist by having sex with the ranch owner’s wife. (In only 24 hours!" says Jordan, both exasperated and admiring). It’s pretty much the kind of thing you expect from James Gunn.
I like that they’re staying true to the DC mythology – recharging the ring, the Green Lantern oath, getting the ring from Abin Sur, and so on. Glad we haven’t seen any “can’t work against yellow” stuff. I hope we see Thomas Kalmaku, but not “Pieface”.
I watched it, and right after, HBO recommended the 2011 movie Green Lantern, starring Ryan Reynolds. I don’t know if the series is supposed to follow the movie.
BTW, reading Wikipedia to understand the background, the Guardians of the Universe first appeared in 1960, while the Guardians of the Galaxy (from Marvel Comics) first appeared in 1969. I wonder whether there was controversy over the very rough similarity?
I really enjoyed it. Hal is all crusty and burned out, but still arrogant, and obviously good at his job. The chemistry between Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre is fantastic. I liked that they didn’t shy away from the lore, even dropping Abin Sur’s name.
Nice twist at the end.
I haven’t seen the movie, but I expect this is a clean reboot.
Not as far as I’ve ever heard. Other than the “Guardians of the…” names, they are very different. The DC guys are the Oans, a race of ancient immortal beings who founded and oversee the Green Lantern Corps; the Marvel group are a bunch of ragtag adventurers, whose name is maybe a little grandiose for just how powerful they are. 
No, this is supposed to be in the new DC Universe (the recent Superman and Supergirl). I’m curious to see how Guy Gardner is going to feature in.
I’m digging it. I wonder what the deal is with John Stewart Sr. He didn’t want his kids watching Hal’s interview, and then asked John the same “are you afraid” question. Maybe he ran into Abin Sur first and said yes?
I had the exact same opinion, and even commented to my wife how similar they were. Then again, I’m not complaining; I like this new take on it and I find it more interesting then simply guys in black and green leotards flying around conjuring giant green things to smash into stuff. (I mean, we need some of that, but I like how it’s more of a procedural which fits the concept of “space cops” which the Green Lantern Corps is supposed to be.)
See the Ryan Reynolds version of Green Lantern to see a family-friendly incarnation. It was a bomb for a reason. (And I will say, I don’t think Reynolds is the reason; he did what he could with what he had, which wasn’t much, sadly.) Heck, it was so much oriented toward kids that pretty much everything he created with his ring was some kind of giant version of a toy!
Precisely. Superman, the most recent Suicide Squad film, the Peacemaker series, those are all interconnected and part of the same continuity as this series. It’s all being run by James Gunn, ultimately, and I assume it’s part of his vision. None of the older stuff is connected and could be considered “multiverse” stuff at the most.
Notice the time jumps in the series (1996, 2016, 2026 at different points). My speculation is that between 2016 and 2026, Guy becomes Green Lantern. And remember how John checked Hal’s finger for a ring, and it is gone; my guess is that the same ring is now on Guy’s finger.
A very brief bit of history from a comics perspective, which may or may not be relevant to this series (because obviously they have diverged a lot). But in the comics, the Guardians decided that Earth needed a “backup” Green Lantern, and that’s how Guy Gardner became one. But Guy was badly injured in a car accident a few years later, and while he was recovering they decided a new person needed to take his place (so you can call it a temporary replacement for the backup) and that’s how John Stewart became a Green Lantern. So it was Hal Jordan first, Guy second, and John third. Once again, there is clearly a difference from the comics (and the comics were inconsistent anyway; John Stewart was originally an anti-authoritarian Black activist and architect who was later retconned to be an ex-Marine) but I expect some of that will inform what’s happening in this show.
I’m really enjoying it though, the first episode was good and I’m curious how it will develop. I also see that according to IMDb, the actor playing John Stewart is listed as playing the same character in the next Superman film. I also heard that they are already planning a second season of this show, so clearly the studio is excited and supportive of it.
What was going on with John Stewart Sr? John’s brothers seemed to be terrified of him. There must be some backstory there.
Well he did point a loaded gun at John and shot an apple off his head.
Sure, but wasn’t that later?
Before I watch any of the series, and before I read this thread, I’ll just say that I love James Gunn’s stuff, but after watching the trailer I thought “Seems like the audience for this is adults that grew up loving comics, or who currently love any comic movie. Are there enough Green Lantern fans out there?”
Saw a t-shirt once that read:
Do not say hello unless we
can have a serious discussion
about Green Lantern.
Well, I can, so I’ll try the series. Didn’t know it was streaming yet – thanks for the thread!
If anything I thought Hal acted more like Will Smith with John being Tommy Lee Jones. I enjoyed the first episode, will definitely watch more.
I have to admit that having Hal, shot in the head, dead at the end of the episode was a bit of a surprise…
It was Hal, wasn’t it?
Yup, or a fake out meant to look like him.
The wall that John stood in front of was covered in bullet holes even before the apple was shot. It was clear that this wasn’t the first time it happened, maybe not even the 20th time. None of those kids wanted to be subjected to GI Joe’s version of William Tell.
Regardless of the affection that dad showed little John after making applesauce, there was something really screwed up about that guy.
Really enjoyed the first episode. Good mystery and good characters. I hope they keep it up.
I probably shouldn’t be bothered by unrealistic things in superhero shows, but when Hal jumped out of the moving car he should have broken appropriately 700 bones.
So… John’s dad obviously failed the “are you afraid” test and that is why he trained his son like that right?