Beware his freakin’ power, Finn Wittrock has Guy Gardner’s might. The American Horror Story actor has been cast as one of the lead ring bearers in HBO Max’s upcoming DC Extended Universe series Green Lantern.
Coming from executive producer Greg Berlanti (he of The CW’s Arrowverse) and showrunner Seth Grahame-Smith (The LEGO Batman Movie), Green Lantern is said to feature different incarnations of the title character from across galaxies — and across time. That makes sense giving the legacy of the Green Lantern character, as the comics have typically featured numerous characters wearing the Power Rings of the Green Lantern Corps.
Wittorck will play Gardner, a cocky fan-favorite known for being a parody of the typical American machismo, for a part of the story set in 1984. According to The Hollywood Reporter, HBO Max describes the character as “a hulking mass of masculinity, and, as rendered in the comics, an embodiment of 1980s hyper-patriotism. And yet, Guy is somehow likable.”
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One thing fans will surely instantly notice is that no matter how masculine and likable Wittrock may be, he’s certainly not a redhead. Since he was first introduced in 1968, Gardner has been depicted as having red hair, a fiery follicle choice the reflected his hot-headed nature. Wittrock has the flowing black locks of an archetypical American pretty boy; will fans accept a darker haired Gardner, or will HBO Max and WB go the dye-and-wig route?
Longtime Green Lantern readers will also have to accept a completely new character being added to the mythos, as Gardner is said to be partnering with a made-for-series character named Bree Jarta. Jarta is half-alien, half-human Lantern raised on a planet far more advanced and enlightened than Earth. Thus, she is resentful of her human heritage, which makes her pairing with an egoist like Gardner that much more frustrating.
Also part of HBO Max’s Green Lantern series will be the original Lantern, Alan Scott. With his story taking place in 1941, Scott will deal with being a prototypical FBI G-Man who’s also hiding his sexual orientation. Rumor has it other GL favorites like Kilowog, Sinestro, Jessica Cruz, and Simon Baz will also be part of the series. Berlanti and Grahame-Smith are co-writing alongside Marc Guggenheim (The CW’s Arrow and the 2011 theatrical Green Lantern bomb).
The DCEU has further plans to expand onto HBO Max. Matt Reeves is reportedly working on a spin-off to his frequently delayed The Batman centered on the Gotham City Police Department, while John Cena’s Peacemaker will headline a The Suicide Squad spin-off. There are also rumblings J.J. Abrams is trying to make Justice League Dark work.
