It is one thing to wear the Green Lantern ring and a whole other thing to own it. In “Green Lantern: Beware My Power,” we see John Stewart put on the ring that does choose him, which means that he was worthy anyways. But it was only at the end of the film that he became one with the power of the Green Lantern. The concept is pretty much like Thor’s Mjolnir. You might be worthy enough to wield the hammer, but you have to believe that you are the god of thunder and not the god of hammers in order to become Thor and possess the powers. The “Green Lantern-Beware My Power” shows Marine sniper MOH recipient John Stewart gaining the Green Lantern power ring and getting pulled into the middle of the Rann-Thanagar war.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens In The Animated Film ‘Green Lantern: Beware My Power’?
John Stewart (Aldis Hodge) is a Marine sniper with a Medal of Honor to his name who is still coping with the horrors of war and all the people he killed. One night, as he is returning home after helping a homeless person who was being beaten by street thugs, an act of violence that almost got him in jail when the police decided to let him go for his services, an alien ship crashes in front of his house. As shocked as John is, he tries to help the pilot, a blue extraterrestrial being. But the pilot is fatally wounded and dies and disintegrates in front of John. The very next moment, the pilot’s ring makes its way to John, who is unable to take it off in any way.
John then finds out that the Ring (voiced by Sunil Malhotra) can speak to him. The ring also enables him to manifest things via his thoughts. The ring then takes him to a watch tower just outside Earth, where he comes across members of the Justice League i.e. Green Arrow (Jimmi Simpson), Martian Manhunter (Ike Amadi), and Vixen (Keesha Sharp). However, they naturally do not recognize him as Green Lantern because Hal Jordan is supposed to be Earth’s Green Lantern and not this new guy.
The only way to figure out what’s going on and how the ring ended up with John Stewart is to visit Oa, the planet of the Green Lantern Corps. When John and Green Arrow reach the location, all they find is death and destruction. All of the Green Lantern Guardians have been killed by someone or something. While searching for clues, they are attacked by Hawkgirl (Jamie Gray Hyder), a warrior of the Thanagar First Order. She reveals how Hal Jordan died trying to prevent a beam from destroying Thanagar, a beam caused by the Zeta force that was supposed to act as the bridge between Rann and Thannagar as a part of their peace treaty. The beam ultimately transported the whole Thannagar planet into Rannian space, upsetting the ecosystem of both planets. Millions of Thangarians perished as well. According to her, the whole thing was planned by war-lord Sardath of Rann, who headed the project (along with Banth Dar of Thannagar). But John Stewart and Green Arrow are not convinced and decide to visit the nearest Rannian outpost. What follows is John Stewart, Green Arrow, and Hawkgirl following a trail of deaths, destruction, and deception to try and deduce the truth behind the Rann-Thanagar war. And a crucial missing piece in all this is Hal Jordan (Nolan North).
John Stewart As Green Lantern
What makes John Stewart worthy of becoming a Green Lantern is his nature to disapprove of judging and condemning an unknown enemy. His bravery is based on reason that allows him to assess situations before taking any step. This, along with his enormous self-control, enables him to wield the power of the ring that would otherwise take a toll on him. The film doesn’t really delve into his character or any other character for that matter. All that we see in him is a guy who is trying to find a new purpose in his life. He may be proud of what he has done, but he doesn’t show off and rather prefers to keep things to himself. He carries the torch of the Green Lantern throughout the film, but it is more due to his nature as a person than his powers (given to him by the ring) that take him ahead. It is also why he eventually embodies Green Lantern at the end of the film during his fight with Hal Jordan.
Hal Jordan and His Chaos Theory
Hal Jordan is the greatest Green Lantern in the universe. But the light in which we see him in the film isn’t white, and it is definitely not “green” either. We see how Sinestro’s Parallax Entity, in spite of bending Hal to his will, showed him his “new purpose,” which was to destroy the universe and create a better one, “like a God.” This is quite akin to what Thanos wanted to do in Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War. He, too, wanted to restore the balance to all the planets by destroying half their populations. The only difference is that while Thanos chose the planets, Hal Jordan had already made his choice, i.e., the whole universe. All the rings he acquired after killing all the Green Lanterns gave him a power unlike any other. And the thing with power is that it breeds the greed for more power. Sure enough, Hal, who had already been changed by the Parallax Entity, had now decided to become more than a Green Lantern. He wanted to be a god. His time as a Green Lantern, when he would fight against evil, now appeared to him as futile as the fight would never end. So, with the power he beholds, he intends to create a new universe, one without any conflicts.
‘Green Lantern: Beware My Power’ Ending Explained: Does John Stewart Kill Hal Jordan?
Many of you might ask how John Stewart, with one ring, defeated Hal Jordan, who has so many rings. Here again, we need to remind ourselves of what makes a person worthy of becoming a Green Lantern. Hal Jordan may be wearing many rings, but the rings are only as powerful as Hal’s nature. To elaborate, Hal is no longer the good-willed person that he was when the ring chose him. He has now become evil, which is something the Green Lantern rings don’t support (for lack of a better and more appropriate word). So, while he can use the powers of the rings, he doesn’t really embody the Green Lantern persona. On the other hand, John, despite having only one ring, embodies what it means to be a Green Lantern. He is what Green Lantern is all about, and after he repeated the oath, the ring and he became one. The fact that John doesn’t kill Hal further stresses why the ring chose him. However, Hal is killed by the Green Arrow before he can kill John.
Overall, “Green Lantern- Beware My Power” swings to and fro between heroism and a complex plot but manages to maintain both parts without being over-the-top. There is a clear presence of ambition and betrayal (both by Hal Jordan). And there is a conflict that roots in a race (Hawkgirl judging Adam Strange (Brian Bloom) just because he is of Rann, and the hatred between Rann and Thannagar in general). On the other hand, we have a war hero (John Stewart) looking for purpose who ultimately finds it and becomes a Guardian of planet Earth and one of the guardians of the universe.
“Green Lantern: Beware My Power” is a 2022 animated DC film directed by Jeff Wamester. It stars Aldis Hodge, Jimmi Simpson, Brian Bloom, Jamie Gray Hyder, and Nolan North.
