Scrapped GREEN LANTERN Series Concept Art Reveals the Epic Cosmic Adventure We Never Got
Before DC Studios brought us Lanterns, HBO Max was developing a completely different Green Lantern series that would have taken fans on a wild cosmic adventure. That project was called Emerald Knights, and newly released concept art offers a pretty cool look at the superhero show we missed out on.
Marc Guggenheim, who co-created The CW's Arrow, recently shared several pieces of artwork from the canceled series on his Substack. The images reveal a much more traditional Green Lantern adventure, complete with alien battles, familiar DC characters, and plenty of action in outer space.
One of the most exciting pieces depicts a group of Green Lanterns, including Guy Gardner, Kilowog, and Sinestro, battling an alien species in space. According to Guggenheim, the sequence was intended to open the very first episode.
Another piece introduces a new female Green Lantern whose appearance was inspired by actress and singer Janelle Monáe.
The third image gives us a closer look at Guy Gardner, who would have been played by American Horror Story actor Finn Wittrock. His costume takes inspiration from the character's classic comic book appearance, although Guggenheim explained that the design wasn't quite finished.
"We were going to alter it slightly to reflect his Justice League International look," Guggenheim said.
The original series had an ambitious story planned, with events unfolding across two different periods in DC history.
The 1941 storyline would have centered on Alan Scott, the Golden Age Green Lantern, who worked as an FBI agent while keeping his sexuality a secret. Jeremy Irvine had been cast in the role.
Meanwhile, the 1984 storyline would have followed Guy Gardner alongside Bree Jarta, a half-human, half-alien Green Lantern created for the series. Wittrock was attached to play Gardner, but the production never found an actress to portray Bree.
HBO Max originally ordered 10 episodes of Emerald Knights in 2020, with Seth Grahame-Smith serving as showrunner and Guggenheim writing. The episode count was eventually reduced to eight before the project ran into bigger problems.
Grahame-Smith departed in late 2022, prompting a major creative overhaul. Around that time, James Gunn and Peter Safran took charge of DC Studios, bringing a new direction to the company's film and television projects.
By 2024, HBO had moved forward with Lanterns, leaving the original series behind. What's interesting is that despite their very different approaches, the two Green Lantern shows share several ideas.
Both explore events across multiple timelines, and both feature Sinestro. Guggenheim also revealed that the Manhunters, the robotic enemies of the Green Lantern Corps, were intended to be the "primary villains" of Emerald Knights.
The biggest difference is the scale of the storytelling. While Lanterns takes a more grounded, True Detective-inspired approach to the DC Universe, Emerald Knights was designed to embrace the strange alien worlds and massive intergalactic conflicts that make Green Lantern comics so much fun.
There's a chance that Lanterns could eventually explore more of that cosmic territory. Showrunner Chris Mundy has already teased the possibility of Kilowog appearing in a potential second season.
I loved what Lanterns delivered, but it would’ve been interesting to see what Guggenheim and his team would’ve done with this if given the opportunity. A Green Lantern series featuring multiple members of the Corps fighting alien threats across the galaxy sounds like a blast.
The concept art certainly makes a strong case for what could have been, especially with characters like Kilowog and Sinestro getting involved in the action right from the beginning.
Of course, that doesn't mean Lanterns can't deliver something equally entertaining with its detective-driven story. It's just fascinating to see how differently DC almost approached these characters.
You can check out the artwork on Guggenheim's Substack.
All episodes of Lanterns Season 1 are currently streaming on HBO Max.
Would you have preferred a massive cosmic Green Lantern adventure like Emerald Knights, or do you like the more grounded direction DC took with Lanterns?
