Though Zack Snyder's Justice League gave Martian Manhunter his official cinematic debut, Snyder initially made the character's big epilogue scene for a Green Lantern character. This decision and Warner Bros.' opposition to it nearly resulted in Snyder quitting the project altogether.

In an interview with Esquire, Snyder was asked about his film's extended epilogue and revealed that only the Knightmare scenes and Batman's interaction with Jared Leto's Joker were new. Bruce Wayne's conversation with Manhunter, by comparison, was filmed in England and was meant to feature John Stewart as the surprise cameo. According to Snyder, "the studio had told me I wasn't allowed to shoot anything. That there would be no film made of any kind. During production, that was a thing they insisted on. And I shot stuff anyway, of course, in my yard. And one of the things I shot was the Green Lantern scene. And then they asked me, when they saw the movie and saw that I put it in there, they'd take it out. And I said that I would quit if they tried to take it out. And I felt bad. The truth is I didn't want the fans to not have a movie, just based on that one stand that I was going to take."

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"And the Green Lantern was John Stewart," Snyder continued. "And that was part of it too. I was like, I don't want to take a person of color out of this movie. I'm not going to do it. And, but then, but I felt like having Harry Lennix's Martian Manhunter at the end was, that was okay."

In Zack Snyder's Justice League, a Green Lantern appears during the flashback to the first encounter with Darkseid. However, this alien Green Lantern goes unnamed and is swiftly killed by Darkseid after having the hand wielding its power ring cut off.

As for John Stewart, the character was created by Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams, debuting in 1971's Green Lantern #87. Stewart is the first major Black superhero to appear in DC comics, serving as a substitute for Hal Jordan and eventually the primary Green Lantern of Earth in his own right.

Zack Snyder's Justice League stars Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Ray Porter as Darkseid, Ciarán Hinds as Steppenwolf, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon. The film is now streaming on HBO Max.

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Source: Esquire