Why John Stewart's Green Lantern Costume Was Cut From The Lanterns Finale

The "Lanterns" finale solved the mystery of Hal Jordan's (Kyle Chandler) murder, while also moving the pieces around for John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) to become Earth's newest Green Lantern. However, the new hero did not suit up in the episode's closing moments, and there's actually a very specific reason why John's Green Lantern costume was cut from the episode.

Speaking to CBR, showrunner Chris Mundy explained that the team came up with designs for Stewart's suit, but the decision to exclude it came down to the "story point" of the episode. "If the season would have continued on another day, you probably would have seen it," he explained. "But emotionally in that moment, once Hal and John have their goodbye scene — the Halogram and John — the season had ended, emotionally."

Mundy pointed out that Stewart's Green Lantern outfit would have overshadowed the emotional farewell between the dynamic duo. "Once we knew that was the ending point, then we were like, 'The suit's not going to be in this season.'" The costume has been a divisive talking point for the audience, as some fans were disappointed by the color and design of Jordan's uniform. In the comics, the Green Lantern Corps typically generate their outfits using their rings, but this isn't the case in the DCU.

Hal Jordan and John Stewart both used the ring to generate some impressive constructs throughout the series, like the giant excavator they used to get underneath William Macon's (Garret Dillahunt) property. But the season has really been about diving deep into what makes the heroes tick, rather than having them create giant green weapons each episode just for the sake of it. It seems the writers intentionally took the same approach with the finale, opting not to shoehorn in a final CGI battle. 

"There was never a version of the finale that was more action-oriented. This story was about these two guys. We knew that if we landed it emotionally with them, we would have done our job," Chris Mundy also told CBR. "And obviously, over the course of the season, we knew there were going to be action (moments). But we barely even talked about it because we all just knew this is what we were going for, that that would have been distracting." The writers also chose not to include other members of the Green Lantern Corps for the same reason.

Viewers hoping to see more action (and a costume) for John Stewart likely won't have to wait too long, since Aaron Pierre is set to reprise his role in 2027's "Man of Tomorrow." The film will see Superman (David Corenswet) team up with Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) to stop the intergalactic villain Brainiac (Lars Eidinger). Given that Brainiac has a knack for stealing entire cities and destroying planets, Stewart might get involved in a much bigger way.