Warning: The following contains SPOILERS for Stargirl season 2, episode 2, “Summer School: Chapter Two.”

Many fans are wondering why Stargirl was allowed to introduce Green Lantern into the Arrowverse through the character of Jade before John Diggle took up the mantle. The former Spartan and right-hand man of Oliver Queen on Arrow has been repeatedly teased as having been found worthy of joining the ranks of the Green Lanterns since Arrow‘s series finale in 2020 and many are wondering if the subplot will ever pay off. Many also wonder if John Diggle will be introduced into the cast of the upcoming Green Lantern Corps series being planned for HBO Max.

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The second episode of Stargirl season 2 explored the origins of Jennie; an orphan who was kicked out of the orphanage she grew up in with only two bequests from her father, Alan Scott; a toy car belonging to her brother, Todd, and an emerald ring shaped like a lantern. When Jennie put the ring on, it began to glow and guided her to the home of Courtney Whitmore, who had been holding on to the Green Lantern’s lantern among other JSA artifacts. By the end of the episode, Jennie had absorbed the lantern’s power into herself, having been revealed as a living conduit for the power her father tapped as the Green Lantern. This technically makes Jennie (who is known as Jade in the comics) the first on-screen Green Lantern in the Arrowverse, as her father was referenced in Stargirl season 1 but never shown in action.

This development has angered some Arrow fans, who had hoped to see John Diggle as a Green Lantern. The idea of John Diggle being the Arrowverse variant of John Stewart had been repeatedly teased throughout Arrow‘s eight seasons, culminating in his discovery of a glowing green object in a box that crashed to Earth in the series finale. John Diggle went on to make cameo appearances in Batwoman, The Flash and Superman and Lois, which referenced his experiencing odd headaches and dizzy spells, which were affirmed to be caused by some other presence by empath Cecile Horton. Diggle also told Barry Allen that there was “something I’ve been putting off for far too long” that prevented him from staying to aid in The Flash’s war with Godspeed.

While it may seem like fans of John Diggle and Arrow are being trolled at this point, it is unlikely there is anything more nefarious than bad timing, likely brought about because of the shooting restrictions required by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is clear that something big is in the works for John Diggle’s character, as actor David Ramsey does not seem to have any upcoming projects lined up beyond an appearance in one of the final episodes of Supergirl, which he is also directing. While many fans have hoped Diggle might move on to be part of the Green Lantern Corps series, nothing has been confirmed toward that end yet.

The most likely explanation is that the idea of officially confirming John Diggle as a John Stewart variant may have conflicted with rights issues tied into the long-delayed Green Lantern Corps movie that is still reportedly in production independent of the HBO Max series. It’s also possible that shifting of the CW schedule in the wake of COVID-19 may have delayed Diggle’s first appearance as Green Lantern on Supergirl. In any case, with Jade having originally been created as a character for the Justice Society of America spin-off comic book Infinity Inc. there was nothing to stop Stargirl from adapting her character for live-action first, making her into the first wielder of the green flame to appear on-screen in the Arrowverse, if not the first member of the Green Lantern Corps.

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About The Author


Matt Morrison
(1835 Articles Published)

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Matt Morrison has been writing about comics since before the word
“blogging” was coined. He got his start writing for the
legendary DC Comics digital fanzine Fanzing,
before receiving his own column, The Mount. Since then he has gone on
to write for over a dozen websites, including 411
Mania, Comics
Nexus and The Cult of Nobody. He holds both an MS in Information
Science from the University of North Texas and a BFA from the
University of Texas at Arlington. Known as a font of comic book
history trivia, he has delivered lectures on the history of American
Comic Books, Japanese Manga, Doctor Who, and Cosplay at over a dozen conventions
and served as an Expert In-Residence for a course on Graphic Novels
for Librarians at the University of North Texas. In addition to his
work for Screen Rant, Matt is currently the Editor In Chief of
Kabooooom.com and writes reviews for No
Flying, No Tights – a graphic literature and anime review site
aimed at teachers and librarians. He also maintains a personal blog –
My Geeky Geeky Ways –
which hosts his extensive episode guide for the television series
making up The Arrowverse as well as his
comedic Let’s Play videos. What little spare time he has is
devoted towards acting, role-playing, movie-riffing and sarcasm. You
can follow his adventures on Twitter, @GeekyGeekyWays.

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