Lanterns Introduces DC Universe's First Live-Action Vegan Superhero

When you think of veganism, what's the first word that pops into your mind? Perhaps it's something obvious like "tofu." If you have a positive opinion of non-carnivorous dietary restrictions, the word could be "compassion" — or, if animal rights activism annoys you, it could be "preachy." But, regardless of your preexisting bias, the word you immediately associate with veganism is almost certainly not "badass"... unless you've been watching "Lanterns." 

Outspoken vegan John Stewart (Aaron Pierre), one of the co-leads, comes across as stoic, no-nonsense, and pragmatic. If his personality alone isn't enough to distance him from the crunchy idealism often associated with a vegan lifestyle, before becoming an ostensible full-time backup Green Lantern, John Stewart's old job was doing secret assassinations for the U.S. Government. 

Killing human beings — even if he doesn't eat them afterwards — probably isn't totally compatible with strict herbivore values. But we'll give him a pass, because vegans have a public relations problem. An informal survey of college students reported on by Psychology Today in 2023 indicates that the default vegan in the public's mind looks like "a young, white woman, a hippie, with great skin who is middle-to-upper class" and "always feeling angry." While there's nothing at all wrong with angry white lady hippies, the global vegan community certainly benefits from multifaceted representation in pop culture. An ex-Marine sniper-turned-gritty-superhero absolutely disrupts the stereotype.

John Stewart is currently the most prominent vegan in adapted superhero media, but there are others out there. For example: half-extraterrestrial Karolina Dean (Virginia Gardner) from Hulu's underrated 2017 "Runaways" series. Beast Boy from Cartoon Network's "Teen Titans" (2003) and "Teen Titans Go!" (2013) can turn into any animal; therefore, the idea of eating any animal makes him profoundly uncomfortable. Todd Ingram, the bassist from the Clash at Demonhead played by Brandon Routh in 2010's "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World," derives his telekinetic powers from veganism... though his commitment to a plant-based diet is notoriously inconsistent.    

As for the comic books, the most famous vegetarian superhero is probably Damian Wayne. The son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul announces that he'll eat meat no more after chasing a suspect through a slaughterhouse in "Batman Incorporated" #1 (2012). And as all people know, TV's most influential vegetarian is Lisa Simpson, but she does not count as a superhero or a superhero-adjacent character.