Two days after Episode 3 set off the worst backlash of the Lanterns season, the right shade of green showed up on Instagram.
Jerad Marantz — the veteran concept artist whose credits span the DC and Marvel movie universes — posted his Hal Jordan Green Lantern concepts developed for Justice League alongside costume designer Michael Wilkinson.
“Just reminiscing on my time on the Snyderverse!” Marantz wrote, adding he had an “incredible time working with Costume Designer Michael Wilkinson. Great memories!” The post carries the hashtags #snyderverse, #justiceleague, and #greenlantern.
The art is everything HBO’s show isn’t: Hal fully suited up, glowing emerald, comic-accurate down to the mask and the lantern emblem on his chest.
Marantz never mentions Lanterns. He doesn’t have to. The comments took care of that.
‘Everyone knows Hal Jordan wears a beat up brown jacket’
The top comment, sitting at nearly 200 likes, is pure sarcasm aimed at Kyle Chandler’s version of the character: “Totally inaccurate. Everyone knows Hal Jordan wears a beat up brown jacket and cowboy boots when he’s out as Green Lantern.”
“The TV show really said ‘nah, let’s make a CW-esque suit with the most yellow tone of green,'” wrote another.
It keeps going: “THIS is a comic accurate green lantern.” “No THAT is a green lantern suit.” “It would have been so easy! All they had to do was listen to you, lol.”
And the one that sums up the whole moment: “Is it wrong that I still desire to see your designs and concept come to life? Man I miss the SnyderVerse more then ever.”
The post pulled in thousands of likes within hours. Even the 2011 Ryan Reynolds movie put Hal Jordan in an actual Green Lantern suit — we’ve already written the apology.
This is what Episode 3 unleashed
The pile-on under Marantz’s art is the same fire that’s been burning since Sunday night, when the episode, titled “OutKast,” rewrote John Stewart’s origin around race: Hal holds the ring because of white privilege, John’s father failed the Guardians’ recruitment, and John was conditioned from birth to replace Hal.
Our review scored the episode 0/10.
The fan backlash erupted within hours of James Gunn calling it “one of the best”, with Green Lantern: Rebirth artist Ethan Van Sciver joining in.
And YouTube’s biggest fandom channels have since piled on, with Nerdrotic declaring the series went “full Watchmen.”
So when a Justice League artist posts a glowing, comic-accurate Hal Jordan into the middle of all that, the comparison writes itself.
Snyder already said ‘the green glow is still out there’
Zack Snyder lit this exact fuse back in March.
When the first Lanterns trailer got roasted for its dull brown palette, Snyder liked the viral post comparing his glowing Green Lantern — shot in his own driveway — to the HBO version.
Days later, he posted a behind-the-scenes photo with Wayne T. Carr in his mocap suit: “@waynetcarr as John Stewart. A hero we planned to bring into the Justice League story. Some paths remain unseen… but the green glow is still out there.”
Carr’s John Stewart was shot at Snyder’s house for the ending of Zack Snyder’s Justice League before Warner Bros. forced the switch to Martian Manhunter, as the studio had its own Green Lantern plans at the time.
Those plans became the canceled HBO Max space opera, and eventually the show fans are torching right now.
Meanwhile, the same insiders who told us months ago how Hal Jordan’s Lanterns story ends — reporting HBO’s own copyright strikes went on to confirm — now say the SnyderVerse is back in play amid the Paramount sale, with Zack “gung-ho” about it.
Fans keep telling DC which Green Lantern they want. The comments under Marantz’s post are just the latest receipt.
