Comic book content is largely dead in Hollywood. Not because audiences don't want to see it anymore (Spider-Man: Brand New Day brought in nearly $2.4 billion in global box office, absolutely crushing Christopher Nolan's Odyssey film), but because the studios have turned most of these franchises radioactive with woke politics.
James Gunn's DCU projects for Warner Bros. have proven this over and over again. His girl-boss version of Supergirl was an abject failure largely because of the woke undertones of the film. One would think these people would learn their lesson, or at least care enough about making money to change their behavior. There are two problems, though...
First, activists always double down. They do not learn. They can be forced to shut up and do their jobs properly if studios apply pressure, but left to their own devices they will inevitably inject everything they touch with propaganda. They can't help themselves, they're ideological fanatics.
Second, sometimes studios want to change course and steer away from DEI cultism because it rarely makes any money. But, a lot of the projects in their line-up started production years ago when Hollywood still thought that every American was going to be reeducated into the woke fold. Meaning, they now have all this content slated for release which started development back in 2022-2023.
Such is the case with the Warner/HBO series "Lanterns", a modern take on the comic book series "Green Lantern". The show went into development in 2022...and it's obvious. The crux of the story? A black man (John Stewart) is set up to replace a white guy (Hal Jordan) as the great hero. Stewart's family was essentially ruined by Hal Jordan when Stewart's father failed a test of fear for the Lantern's powerful ring. Hal Jordan end
