3) Common – John Stewart
Aside from Hal Jordan, the most recognizable character in the Green Lantern Corps is arguably John Stewart, thanks in large part to his starring role in the Justice League cartoon of the early 2000’s. If Warner Bros. are as eager to move away from the previous Green Lantern movie as they should be, it would make sense to replace Hal Jordan with Stewart, as he’s already been established with an entire generation.
While characters shouldn’t be chosen purely to shoehorn diversity into cinemas, Stewart has a strong heritage, becoming one of the first superheroes to represent the issues of black America in comics. Sure, Cyborg is receiving his own film now, too, but Stewart is far more iconic and it would be disappointing if Warner Bros. wouldn’t consider using Stewart simply because they already have one black hero in the Justice League roster.
George Miller’s now infamous attempt to bring the Justice League to cinemas failed spectacularly, and while some of the casting choices were certainly questionable, the idea of using rapper Common in the role of Stewart was an inspired one. Back in 2008, some may have doubted his acting credibility, but recent work on AMC’s Hell on Wheels and the Academy Award nominated movie Selma have raised his profile even further since his casting was initially rumored.
