HBO Max’s currently in development “Green Lantern” TV series is starting over.
Previously “Arrow”-verse creator Greg Berlanti was set to executive produce the show, which was to focus on the Green Lantern characters Guy Gardner (played by Finn Wittrock) and Alan Scott (played by Jeremy Irvine).
It was also tipped to be the most expensive DC Comics-inspired series to date, with a serious $120 million budget behind it. That’s almost all out the window with writer and showrunner Seth Grahame-Smith exiting the series after completing scripts for a full season of eight episodes.
Grahame-Smith reportedly chose to leave the project after weathering a number of regime changes at HBO Max and its parent company Warner Bros. Discovery.
Combined with DC Comics topper Walter Hamada’s recent exit, the previously off-the-table option of putting the focus on the character of John Stewart has now been taken up, with the production now starting over and being built around him.
The Sidney Poitier-inspired Stewart first appeared in the early 1970s but really shot to fame as one of the core cast of characters in the 1990s “Justice League” cartoon. With the change, the show’s proposed budget is expected to be slashed.
Despite the timing, the overhaul reportedly has nothing to do with James Gunn and Peter Safran taking over as heads of DC Studios. That hiring goes into effect next week.
Berlanti Productions remains attached, and Warners is expected to take a tax write-down on Grahame-Smith’s work so far.
