May 20, 2021
Will English Actor Jeremy Irvine Play Openly Gay Hero in HBO Max's Green Lantern Show?
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
English actor Jeremy Irvine is in talks to don the green tights – and power ring – of the original Green Lantern, Alan Scott, one of DC Comics' openly gay superheroes, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
As the outlet notes, Irvine's past roles include "a young Pierce Brosnan in 'Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again'" and the Jason Bourne television series spinoff, "Treadstone." He also starred in the much-maligned 2015 Roland Emmerich film "Stonewall."
"Irvine would join Finn Wittrock in the series, who has been cast in the lead role of Guy Gardner," Variety reports.
Alan Scott and Guy Gardner are only two of a multitude of comic book characters who have worn a power ring and defended Earth from cosmic bad guys under the "Green Lantern" rubric. But Alan Scott, created in 1940, was the original Green Lantern, according to reports. He wasn't depicted as gay in the comics until the 2000s when his character was re-introduced as a Green Lantern from a parallel universe version of Earth.
In the upcoming HBO Max series, Scott will be shown as a closeted gay man living in the 1940s, while the "alpha male" Guy Gardner will enter the story four decades later as the series moves into the 1980s.
Greg Berlanti will produce the 10-episode series under his company in partnership with Warner Bros. Television. He will also co-write alongside Seth Grahame-Smith and Marc Guggenheim.
Alan Scott joins a growing pantheon of LGBTQ superheroes, some of which are new versions of longtime favorites. Down the line, the MCU will depict a married gay superhero couple in the upcoming film "Eternals," set to release this November.
What's more, Marvel Comics is planning to introduce a gay teen version of Captain America next month for Pride.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
