WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Zack Snyder's Justice League, now streaming on HBO Max.
Zack Snyder has revealed which DC superhero Martian Manhunter (Harry Lennix) replaced from an earlier version of the director's Justice League cut.
Unlike the film's theatrical cut, Zack Snyder's Justice League ends with an epilogue in which Bruce Wayne/Batman (Ben Affleck) -- fresh off another dream/vision of a post-apocalyptic future in which Darkseid has laid waste to Earth -- receives a visit from Martian Manhunter, who congratulates Bruce on uniting the League and promises to do his part in the battle to come. “We shot a version of this scene with Green Lantern, but [Warner Bros.] really fought me and said, ‘We really don’t want you to do Green Lantern,’” Snyder told Vanity Fair. “So I made a deal with them, and they let me do this [instead].” Snyder then confirmed he was referring to John Stewart.
In a previous interview, Snyder revealed Martian Manhunter had replaced a different DC hero in his Justice League cut, but without specifying who. According to Snyder, the John Stewart scene otherwise "had the exact same structure" as Bruce and Manhunter's meeting in the film.
Created by Neal Adams and Dennis O'Neil, John Stewart first appeared in 1971/1972's Green Lantern #87. The character, DC Comics' first Black superhero, was originally an architect, but was later re-imagined as a military veteran who started out serving as a backup to the Green Lantern Corps' Hal Jordan.
Prior to the release of Justice League's theatrical cut, Warner Bros. was reported to be developing a Green Lantern Corps movie for the DC Extended Universe, with John Stewart and Hal Jordan both slated to appear. Since then, however, the project has seemingly been pushed to the back-burner in favor of a live-action Green Lantern TV series on HBO Max. The latter project will reportedly focus on Earth's first Green Lantern, Alan Scott, along with the Lanterns Jessica Cruz, Guy Gardner, Kilowog and Sinestro. For now, it's unclear what role (if any) John Stewart will play in the show.
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.
Source: Vanity Fair