The new episode of ‘Lanterns’ sheds light on John Stewart’s past in the DCU: he was raised to become a superhero
A recap of ‘Lanterns’ Episode 1x03, in which the HBO Max series delves into John Stewart’s origins in the DCU.
‘Lanterns’, the HBO Max detective and superhero series, continues to reveal new details bit by bit about its main characters and the rest of the new DC Universe created by James Gunn and Peter Safran. Episode 3, the most recent episode to date, has delved into the past of John Stewart—played by Aaron Pierre—and explained why he was practically destined to become the Green Lantern. Although the character retains some essential traits of his DC Comics counterpart, the TV series radically alters his backstory.
Author’s Note: For obvious reasons, this article contains spoilers for the ‘Lanterns’ series. If you’re not up to date with the series, please refrain from reading further, as it includes plot spoilers.
In the DCU, John Stewart was born to be the Green Lantern… literally
Episode 3 of Season 1 of ‘Lanterns’, titled ‘OutKast’, aired on August 31, 2026. Overall, it was an atypical episode, as it didn’t advance the narrative per se. Instead, it was entirely devoted to recounting John Stewart’s origins in the DCU. Although the series’ first episode already hinted that he had a special connection to Hal Jordan and his Green Lantern superhero mantle since childhood, the true extent of his bond with the Guardians wasn’t revealed until this episode.
When John was a baby, one of the Guardians entered the bedroom where his father, John Sr., was resting, placed him inside a green bubble, and asked him a single question: “Are you afraid?” Upon hearing the Marine’s affirmative response, the Guardian decided he was not suitable as a potential Green Lantern candidate. This event traumatized him, which led the same Guardian who had tried to recruit the Marine to visit Bernadette, John’s mother, promising her as compensation that her baby might be accepted in the future if he proved himself worthy.
Following this encounter, John’s parents put him through all kinds of tests to ensure that the boy would grow up without knowing fear, since that was precisely the test in which John Sr. had failed. As an adult, he enlists in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he becomes a sniper. However, he is dishonorably discharged to cover up a mission that went awry due to the unexpected intervention of Hal Jordan, who acted on his own to capture a terrorist whom Stewart was monitoring. Shortly thereafter, John is recruited by the Guardians and accepted as a new Green Lantern, but only as Hal’s apprentice, without a ring of his own.
However, John Stewart’s origin was very different in the comics. When the character debuted in ‘Green Lantern #87’ (1971), the Guardians chose him as Hal Jordan’s new backup Green Lantern after Guy Gardner, who had held that position, was incapacitated. John was an architect and had never been raised or trained to become a Green Lantern as in the series, while his past as a Marine was incorporated into his backstory many years later. Therefore, although ‘Lanterns’ draws on several recognizable elements from different iterations of the character in the comics, the entire storyline involving his parents and his extreme physical and psychological conditioning from childhood onward is a significant reinvention created by the DCU.
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