Lanterns explores racial dynamics in Green Lantern selection process

The third episode of the DC Studios series ‘Lanterns,’ titled ‘OutKast,’ explores the selection process of the Green Lantern ring and its impact on the Stewart family. The episode reveals that in 1986, the ring approached John Stewart Sr. and rejected him after he admitted to feeling fear. In contrast, Hal Jordan earned the mantle by passing the same test without admitting fear.

The narrative addresses themes of racial privilege and systemic disparity. Bernadette Stewart confronts a Guardian, arguing that the selection process fails to account for how race shapes the experience of fear in America. While the ring’s criteria are based on the absence of fear, the series suggests the Guardians are cosmically detached from terrestrial racial dynamics.

As a result of this rejection, John Stewart Sr. and Bernadette raised their son, John Stewart Jr., with an intense focus on suppressing fear to prepare him for a potential future candidacy. This upbringing has led his siblings to observe that he was raised differently than them to shield him from the specific vulnerabilities faced by Black men in the United States.