A New Green Lantern Series Casting Rumor Ignites A Huge Plot Twist Theory

Josh Brolin might be best known as being a purple menace for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but new rumors suggest he's about to go green for James Gunn's DC Universe on the upcoming HBO series, "Lanterns." According to Nexus Point News, the former Thanos has been approached to take on the role of Hal Jordan, Earth's first inductee of the Green Lantern Corps. If he accepts the gig, he'll follow the footsteps of his "Deadpool 2" co-star, Ryan Reynolds, who played the role in 2011's widely mocked "Green Lantern." There might not be time for laughs on the upcoming show though, as "Lanterns" has been pitched as a "True Detective"-type series about space cops patrolling the stars. Now, with the mere mention of Brolin taking on the role, fans already have their suspicions about what point in Lanterns lore we'll see.

Given Brolin's age, it feels safe to suggest we'd be meeting Jordan late into his career as a ringslinger. With that comes a dark chapter in the hero's story, when Hal was possessed by the yellow entity of fear, Parallax. This union leads to the destruction of the Green Lantern Corps and Hal destroying himself to be rid of it. With this descent into darkness and the show's proposed intense tone, might we witness Brolin breaking bad as Jordan, and could another hero that makes up the leading "Lanterns" be on his trail?

Following the announcement of "Lanterns," it was confirmed that the show would be shining a light on John Stewart as the main focus of the series. Connecting these dots with the recent mention of Brolin's name, an obvious theory would be that Stewart would be the rookie with a ring, partnered up with Jordan before he goes bad. But what if it's not that simple, and instead we have two characters on different sides of the color spectrum?

Is there a chance that the newest member of the Green Lantern Corps isn't partnered with Jordan, but rather tasked with tracking him after the esteemed hero went dark? This kind of direction could open some interesting storytelling possibilities, with Stewart following the historical footsteps of the man considered to be the greatest Green Lantern of them all. Might this be a battle of green versus yellow and the rookie of the space force going up against one of its former and most revered members?

If so, it all but assures that other pivotal characters in "Green Lantern" history should at least come up in discussion during this star-chasing detective story. For Jordan and Stewart, there are two prominent names that fill important gaps not just on "Lanterns," but the DC universe as a whole. One will already be appearing in a super-sized chapter we'll have already seen by the time the lanterns are lit.

John Stewart might be fighting alongside or against Hal Jordan, but there are two other Lanterns that can't be overlooked. Firstly, there's Sinestro, the Lantern that trained Jordan and was persuaded by Parallax to turn his back on the Corps before it got hold of Hal. The heel turn led to a longtime rivalry, so it feels almost certain that his name will come up somewhere on the show, or maybe he'll even drop in to cause some issues for our duo.

Then there's the Lantern that filled the gap between Jordan and Stewart. In the comics, John is the third Earthling to be gifted a ring after Guy Gardner, who is set to be appearing in "Superman," played by Nathan Fillion. If "Lanterns" is set to be a "foundational part of the unified DCU," according to co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran (per Variety), then the lughead of a Green Lantern should surely make an appearance, or at least have his (ahem) colorful record highlighted during Jordan and Stewart's detective story. Of course, this is all based off Brolin being offered, not accepting the job as a Green Lantern of Sector 2814. If he does give it the green light, it'll mark another big win for the DCU, and "Lanterns" will rise up the ranks as another project that just got a lot more interesting.