James Oconner 
Anil Krishna 
Jonathan Millar 
Lanterns—Hal Jordan or John Stewart: who is truly the most powerful Green Lantern?
© HBO Max
Lanterns: Hal Jordan or John Stewart — Who Is Really the More Powerful Green Lantern?
HBO’s Lanterns has finally put the spotlight on one of DC’s most underused heroes in recent years. The series has already made a strong impression with its character work, its mystery-driven story and the way it jumps between different timelines while filling in parts of the new DC Universe. There’s quite a lot going on, but one question has started coming up again and again among fans: who is actually the stronger Green Lantern, Hal Jordan or John Stewart?
The show might have already given us an answer, although it doesn’t exactly stop to explain what it means. In fact, one small moment in the second episode may be more revealing than it first appears.
Lanterns May Have Already Shown John Stewart’s Potential
The scene in question happens when Hal Jordan hands his ring over to John Stewart. While using it, Stewart creates a small bird, which continues to exist even after he gives the ring back to Hal. That shouldn’t really happen under the usual rules of the DC Universe. Constructs created by a Green Lantern’s ring are generally tied to the ring itself, so once the power is gone, the creation should disappear too.
But John somehow manages to make the bird stay. Hal’s reaction is just as interesting as the act itself. He looks genuinely surprised, almost as if he’s suddenly realised that John has far more potential than he initially expected. The scene doesn’t come with a big speech about John being special, but the implication is pretty hard to miss.
John Stewart Has Done Some Pretty Incredible Things in the Comics
That moment also lines up with the way John Stewart has been portrayed in the comics. He is often considered one of the most inventive Green Lanterns, partly because of his background in engineering and architecture, as well as his natural artistic ability. He doesn’t just create simple weapons or giant fists with the ring. John is capable of imagining and building incredibly detailed objects, machines and structures.
In the comics, he has even managed to recreate an entire solar system, something no other Lantern had accomplished before him. That gives some context to the seemingly small moment with the bird in Lanterns. What looks like a strange little trick could actually be an early sign of just how far John’s abilities might eventually go.
Of course, Hal Jordan is still the character most people immediately associate with the Green Lantern mantle, and that probably isn’t going to change anytime soon. But when it comes to raw potential, John may eventually move past him. The comics have hinted at that possibility for years, and Lanterns now seems to be playing with the same idea.
It remains to be seen whether the upcoming episodes will build on this moment or take the story in a different direction. For now, though, John Stewart’s first real display of power has given fans something interesting to think about.
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