Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Lanterns episode 7

The DCU’s new Lanterns series could be setting up a major change before James Gunn’s Man of Tomorrow releases next year. Across the board, Lanterns has been expanding the lore and history of Earth’s Green Lanterns in several exciting ways for the DCU. Case in point: although Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner was the first Green Lantern introduced in the DCU with 2025’s Superman, he wasn’t Earth’s first to sling the ring.

As seen in Lanterns, an investigation into a murderous rogue Manhunter brought Kyle Chandler’s Hal Jordan to Rushville, Nebraska, alongside Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart, Hal’s trainee who’d been chosen by the Guardians to replace him as the next Green Lantern. However, the events of the 2016 investigation saw John refusing the role and Guy being chosen in the interim before 2026, when John has now come back to Rushville to investigate Hal’s death in Lanterns’ final episodes.

While Gardner himself was featured in Lanterns episode 6, teasers for the finale have confirmed his return, and we think we know why. For a handful of reasons, it feels quite likely that Guy Gardner’s days as Earth’s sole Green Lantern may be numbered (one way or another).

Guy Gardner Is Confirmed To Return In Lanterns’ Finale

Firstly, Guy Gardner’s return in Lanterns’ upcoming finale has already been confirmed. Shown flying down to Rushville near his Green Lantern Bat-signal rip-off he installed in the small town, the finale’s teaser suggests that John will call him again, just like he did in Lanterns episode 6 when Stewart needed Gardner’s help retrieving Hal’s decommissioned power ring.

Because John Stewart has been using the ring’s last bit of charge to power the digital backup of consciousness known as the Halogram, it follows that John will likely need Guy’s lantern to charge the ring back up. However, this will likely be easier said than done, as Guy previously said that he and John were even after stealing Hal’s ring from the Guardians on Oa in the first place.

It feels doubtful that Guy will just let John use his lantern if that’s indeed what he’s after. Likewise, John doesn’t think very highly of Guy, as the arrogant former gym teacher is the one whom the Guardians picked when John turned the gig down ten years earlier. Everything Guy has is because John turned it down, and he said as much to Guy’s face in Lanterns episode 6.

While that might have worked once to motivate Guy’s reluctant help, it’s doubtful that Gardner will appreciate being reminded of that fact again. Likewise, John using Guy’s lantern could be a bigger deal than it may seem. After all, the Guardians told John years earlier that all he had to do to take Hal’s place and become the next Green Lantern was claim the ring and recite the Green Lanterns’ oath while charging it, meaning he could become a more legit Green Lantern with a uniform and everything (albeit likely unsanctioned).

John Stewart Has Been Confirmed For Man of Tomorrow

The biggest reason this idea is worth exploring is that Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart has already been confirmed to appear in 2027’s Man of Tomorrow, the upcoming Superman sequel directed by James Gunn. That alone supports the idea that the season will likely end with John Stewart wearing a power ring for the long term in the DCU.

Becoming an official Green Lantern would certainly make John’s appearance in Man of Tomorrow easier to justify, allowing him to join the roster of other heroes who’ve also been confirmed for the upcoming movie. If John Stewart does end up taking on the responsibility of the ring by the season’s end (as he likely will), we’d be looking at an all-new Green Lantern in the DCU, 10 years after he was meant to become the next intergalactic protector of Earth and Sector 2814.

It’d absolutely be a natural ending point and evolution for John Stewart, now taking on the role on his own terms, rather than due to the expectations of his parents or the Guardians themselves. However, this all begs the question of whether this indeed comes to pass by the finale’s end: what about Guy Gardner’s Green Lantern?

Will John Stewart Replace Guy As Earth’s Green Lantern?

Obviously, one of the simplest (yet still surprising) possibilities is that John Stewart ultimately replaces Guy as Earth’s primary Green Lantern. Assuming he does indeed need Guy’s lantern to charge Hal’s ring, reciting the oath could see him taking the role from Guy, just like he was meant to take it from Hal a decade earlier.

That being said, the other possibility is worth exploring as well, one where John and Guy end up serving as simultaneous Green Lanterns in the DCU. The DC Universe of the comics has several human Green Lanterns all operating at the same time, so why not in the DCU? Furthermore, the chance to see Guy and John having to work together as partners despite a clear dislike for each other would definitely give us a great new dynamic in Man of Tomorrow and perhaps even in a second potential season of Lanterns.

It’d also be hilarious if Guy and John had to share the same lantern, mirroring the comics where Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz shared a single lantern after their respective power batteries were merged by Hal Jordan when they were both rookies and members of the Justice League. As such, they were forced to work together and remain in each other’s proximity, a scenario that would no doubt be all kinds of entertaining for John Stewart and Guy Gardner in the DCU.

While it’s pretty easy to see John replacing Guy by the end of Lanterns’ finale ahead of James Gunn’s Man of Tomorrow, it’s just as easy to see how keeping both John and Guy around as full-fledged Green Lanterns could have some solid potential as well. Either way, it’s clear that Earth’s current status quo for Green Lanterns (and specifically John Stewart) is about to significantly change with the upcoming DCU finale.

The finale of Lanterns premieres October 4th on HBO Max from DC Studios.

Release Date

August 16, 2026

Network

HBO

Showrunner

Chris Mundy

Directors

Alik Sakharov, James Hawes, Stephen Williams, Geeta Patel

Writers

Damon Lindelof, Chris Mundy, Tom King, Vanessa Baden Kelly, Justin Britt-Gibson, Breannah Gibson

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  Aaron Pierre

  John Stewart