James Gunn's DCU Reaches A Point Of No Return For John Stewart

Published Sep 24, 2026, 6:28 PM EDT

Greg is a Lead TV Writer & Critic at Screen Rant with expertise in new streaming releases. He's published over 3000 articles at SR, including weekly recommendation guides and dozens of reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. He previously worked in Development at ABC Television & Lawrence Bender Productions.

Greg majored in Film Production at Chapman University's Dodge College. Greg also has years of broadcast TV production experience at major networks such as NBC, TNT, and ESPN. He currently lives in Greater Boston.

WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Lanterns episode 6.

Lanterns episode 6 finds John Stewart reclaiming his true identity a decade after the tragedy in Rushville, seemingly leaving his lifelong mission to become a Green Lantern behind. In the end, he's able to secure a ring for himself, prying it off of Hal Jordan's dead hand, which felt like a new moral low for the character. Then, in a sudden twist, John manifests Hal's hologram, proving there's still unfinished business. Even though John has escaped his initial call to the ring, he officially reaches a point of no return by giving up the life he built to get it back.

James Gunn's reimagining of John Stewart's Green Lantern origin story in his modern "remixed" DCU has divided audiences, with relative newcomers to the franchise generally supporting it and longtime fans of the comic book series disliking the canon changes. There's no question that HBO's Lanterns heavily rewrites the source material, switching major aspects of the plot like John's origin story and Hal Jordan's death. Whether you're loving Lanterns so far or not, John Stewart's recent developments have brought him to a whole new world.

Lanterns Episode 6 Forces John Stewart To Abandon His Old Life

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John Stewart has established a complicated relationship with acquiring a Power Ring, as the HBO series has linked his relentless lifelong pursuit of it to the psychological abuse placed upon him by his parents. As depicted in Lanterns, Stewart had originally taken the ring from Hal but chose to return it to the Guardian of the Universe, Lianna, after realizing that he had never truly wanted it in the first place. Instead, he had only hoped to make his parents proud, as his father was evidently living through John's ascension to becoming a Green Lantern after he had failed to be recruited.

Following the discovery that the Power Ring made him feel empty, John pursued a normal career as an architect and went into business with his brother, Marcus. John proves to be more fulfilled as a professional architect but is drawn back into the allure of the Green Lantern persona after Hal is found dead in an apparent murder, some ten years after he had briefly been made Hal's apprentice.

Hal's death has been the central mystery throughout the HBO series since the first episode, bringing the story full circle in the sixth by laying the real Hal to rest and allowing him to return through the ring-powered "Halogram." Ultimately, John's decision to pursue personal fulfillment is overtaken by his determination to solve Hal's murder, an irrecoverable choice that reopens the door to his Green Lantern origin story.

Hal Jordan's Return Makes John's Green Lantern Future Inevitable

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With Hal officially dead and the mystery still at large, John will likely be called to return to his original Green Lantern pursuit – so long as it is done on his own terms. Several significant questions remained unanswered at this junction, mainly who let Sinestro out of "Spazkaban", as the current Green Lantern Guy Gardner called it, and what is hidden inside Hal's ominous vault. Hal, through his digital projection, is bound to assist John and Rushville sheriff Kerry Kane, whom Hal was revealed to have a romantic relationship with, in solving his own death. That specific journey, however, should lay the path for John to assume his role as a Green Lantern by the end of the 8-part series, unless Guy has something to say about it.

The most significant point in Hal's brief return will likely be as a stepping stone for John to get back to his original desire of becoming a Green Lantern. Of course, John wielding his own Power Ring is inevitable given the wealth of source material and the already confirmed Lanterns season 2, which surely won't continue to follow John's ambitions in architecture. With only two episodes left of Lanterns season 1, viewers can expect John to reignite his determination to become a Green Lantern, or perhaps put on full display why he truly deserves to be one after all, after crossing a point of no return in episode 6.

Lanterns