Much attention is paid to the Green Lanterns of Earth, but while Kyle Rayner, Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Jo Mullein, and the rest of the crew regularly get a spotlight, most of the Green Lantern Corps is actually made up of aliens from other planets and sectors. With Hal and John as the lead characters in Lanterns, we’ve collected 3 Lanterns we absolutely need to see in the series, and spoiler: none of them are human.
Our first Green Lantern is the longtime Corps member Tomar-Re from sector 2813. Tomar-Re is from the planet Xudar and is immediately identifiable thanks to his orange skin, larger fin on his head, and pointed ears, which were all traits of Xudarians.
Tomar-Re was one of the most trusted Lanterns during his time in the Corps, which is why he was not only trusted to train new recruits but was also made a part of the prestigious Honor Guard. Tomar-Re was also good friends with Abin Sur, which actually makes a lot of sense given what happened with Tomar-Re’s ring after his death.
Tomar-Re tragically died during Crisis on Infinite Earths, but before he died, he left his Power Ring to none other than John Stewart. At the time, Stewart was using Jordan’s old Power Ring, which also used to be Abin Sur’s, but after Tomar-Re’s sacrifice, Stewart took his ring and Jordan took back his original one. While Tomar-Re passed away from his injuries, his legacy was carried on by his son Tomar-Tu, who would become an ally to both Stewart and Jordan and eventually be recruited by the Corps.
It’s just about impossible to bring in the Green Lantern Corps as a concept and not feature the person most associated with it, and while Hal, Guy, and the rest of the Earth Lanterns are major characters, there’s no one more synonymous with the Corps than Kilowog.
Kilowog is a Bolovaxian from the planet Bolovax Vik, which used to be a planet full of life until the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths. Kilowog was chosen as a Lantern after the death of Sector 674’s previous Lantern Branwilla, and Kilowog quickly proved why he was the perfect person to wield the ring. When the planet was wiped out during the Crisis, Kilowog protected all sixteen billion people from its destruction by absorbing their life energies into his ring until he could find a place to release them, and that’s just one of the impressive moments on his resume.
This is also why there’s no one better to train Green Lantern recruits, a role that Kilowog has thrived in since becoming the main person responsible for getting them into shape. When he gets a chance to go into the field though, he’s still a powerhouse, and he’s one of the most loyal allies you could ask for. That’s why a Lanterns appearance is a must, and hopefully we get to see him make his DCU debut soon.
While Tomar-Re and Kilowog are both beloved Lanterns, there’s another fan favorite who fans would love to see make their DCU debut in the show, but the difference is this one has already been mentioned. We are talking about the delightful squirrel Lantern of Sector 1014, Ch’p.
Granted, he’s not actually a squirrel, as he’s a H’lvenite from the planet H’lven, though they all look like squirrels. While his stature might be small, his heroism and fearlessness are anything but, as he led the H’lvenite resistance against the forces of Doctor Ub’x after they took over the planet. Unlike other Lanterns, Ch’p was actually offered a Power Ring by a Guardian in person, which not only saved his life (he was going to be executed after being captured), but also the planet after he became a Green Lantern.
In one of the earlier Lanterns trailers, there’s a scene where Hal and John are talking in the car, and John asks Hal if he’s ever talked with the other Lanterns. Hal then confirms Ch’p, saying, “I’m the only human, they’re aliens. One of them’s a f squirrel”. Now that he’s been confirmed to be part of the world, if there’s a bigger glimpse of Oa or the Green Lantern Corps, there’s a major chance we see Ch’p, and that would be an amazing thing to see.
Lanterns premieres on HBO on August 16th.
