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Lanterns co-creator Damon Lindelof has clarified his recent comments poking fun at the 'Green' in Green Lantern.
"I made a dumb joke on a comedy podcast. I’m not going to bob and weave about context, the joke was dumb, the fandom is not. I owe them an explanation and a genuine reflection of my actual feelings," began on Instagram.
While including a throwback to wearing a Green Lantern shirt during 2004's Comic-Con, Lindelof not only walked back his words ("Green is awesome") but paid tribute to those he worked alongside for the DCU series.
"It would be a betrayal to everyone I worked for and alongside to say anything other than I was absolutely honored to be a part of the team that manifested the incredible construct that is Lanterns… because it was," Lindelof wrote. "I was sloppy and careless with my words, ironic considering I care so much about Hal, John and the entire Corps. I can and will do better to be worthy of the oath… until then, I’ll let the show speak for itself and I can’t wait for you all to hear what it has to say."
Speaking on the Lovett or Leave It podcast, Lindelof joked, "It's called Lanterns, cause we all agreed the 'Green' is stupid. So now it's just Lanterns."
That, inevitably, led to an uproar among the Green Lantern community – chief among them comic writer Grant Morrison.
"TV writer/producer Damon Lindelof's comments notwithstanding, the 'Green' in 'Green Lantern(s)' is not 'stupid'," Morrison wrote on their Substack. "Why does a writer attach himself to this kind of narrative if he thinks it's fundamentally 'stupid'? You don't hand CSI scripts to patronising writers who condemn forensics experts and their haircuts as 'stupid', so why hire people who are ashamed and in denial about the comic book material they've been assigned to develop?"
Remarkably, this isn't the first time Lindelof has found himself in hot water with a legendary comic book writer.
Upon starting work on his Watchmen sequel for HBO, Lindelof reached out to creator Alan Moore. Lindelof then posted a five-page open letter on Instagram, detailing his intentions for the series, as well as pre-emptively apologising to Moore.
For his part, Moore revealed years later that he sent a curt reply to Lindelof's overtures.
Moore told GQ, "I explained that I had disowned the work in question, and partly that was because the film industry and the comics industry seemed to have created things that had nothing to do with my work, but which would be associated with it in the public mind. I said, ‘Look, this is embarrassing to me. I don’t want anything to do with you or your show. Please don’t bother me again.'"
Lanterns, meanwhile, is set for release on HBO in August. It stars Aaron Pierre as John Stewart and Kyle Chandler as his reluctant mentor Hal Jordan as they investigate a mystery on Earth. The first trailer was released earlier this month, but proved divisive among fans for its muted color palette.
For more, check out our guide to upcoming DCU movies.
