It’s been months since we’ve had any real news regarding the HBO Max Green Lantern series, with concerns that the show might be one of those to suffer the ax of cancellation in the fallout of all of the leadership changes. Today the Hollywood reporter is running an article announcing that the show is going to be completely revamped, and that showrunner/writer Seth Grahame-Smith has departed the series.
The HBO Max series will now focus on John Stewart rather than Alan Scott, Jessica Cruz, Simon Baz and Guy Gardner. According to the information, Grahame-Smith had completed seven scripts for the show and now only Greg Berlanti and his Warner Bros. TV-based Berlanti Productions remain attached to Green Lantern. Jeremy Irvine had been previously cast as Alan Scott, with Finn Witrock taking the role of Guy Gardner.
The article goes out of its way to point out that the changes have no connection to the news that James Gunn and Peter Safran will take the helm of DC Studios and that Grahamme-Smith chose to leave the show after ride the tumultuous waves of change at Warner Brothers. The article does say that the show included Hal Jordan, but it looks like the person writing the article may have typed Hal’s name rather than Guy’s. Both John Stewart and Hal Jordan were considered off limits with them both being saved for the Geoff Johns’ penned Green Lantern Corps feature film – a movie that has been in development hell for several years.
David Zaslav’s focus on the business side and maximizing profits will also have an effect on the show and the budget is reportedly being downsized from the lofty statements of Green Lantern being one of the most expensive shows on HBO Max.