‘Lanterns’ Writer Explains Why She Calls the Green Lantern Ring “Sexist” in Explosive John Stewart Origin Episode

Superhero mythology rarely gets rewritten this dramatically on live television, but HBO’s newest DC series has made a habit of upending decades of established comic book lore. Few episodes have generated quite as much conversation as the show’s third installment, which fundamentally reshaped how fans understand one of Green Lantern’s most iconic characters.

‘Lanterns‘ has spent its first season slowly unpacking the tension between John Stewart and Hal Jordan, but “OutKast” took that exploration in an entirely new direction by digging into John’s family history. The episode revealed that the Green Lantern ring actually approached John’s father, John Stewart Sr., before ultimately selecting Hal Jordan, reshaping the emotional stakes of John’s own eventual selection.

Vanessa Baden Kelly, the episode’s writer and co-executive producer, is now explaining why she repeatedly argued in the writers’ room that the ring itself is sexist. She told Collider that she would always say the ring wasn’t sexist; Bernadette, John’s mother, would have been chosen instead, calling her the most fearless character in the entire story.

Kelly elaborated further on what she believes the ring’s selection process actually measures, explaining that candidates don’t necessarily need to lack fear entirely, but rather need the ability to overcome it, something she framed as deeply tied to trauma and lived experience. She used the example of someone who’s repeatedly witnessed crime on the same block, arguing that person understandably has a harder time overcoming fear tied to that specific location compared to someone encountering it for the first time.

Kelly’s comments make clear that Bernadette isn’t meant to be read as simply an unreliable or bitter character whose grievances the audience should dismiss. Instead, Kelly positioned her as someone whose criticism of the Guardians’ selection process reflects a genuine, deeper truth the show wants viewers to take seriously.

That framing extends into how Bernadette’s own parenting choices are portrayed within the episode, including her decision to isolate John and expose him to danger as a way of building the fearlessness she believed the ring required. Kelly has previously compared that intensive upbringing to the demanding childhood training regimens associated with athletes like Tiger Woods, Venus and Serena Williams, and Jalen Brunson, framing it as a family confronting a system that could deny them success even while following its rules.

The episode has generated significant online discussion, with some viewers criticizing its heavy focus on race and the Black American experience as excessive for a superhero series. Kelly addressed those criticisms directly in a separate interview with TheWrap, standing firmly behind the choices made in “OutKast” and pointing to John Stewart’s long-established comic book history as grounding for the episode’s themes.

Kelly emphasized that John Stewart’s Blackness has always been a central part of the character’s identity since his debut in the comics back in the 1970s, framing the episode’s exploration of race as consistent with decades of established storytelling rather than a new addition. She also spoke about what she views as the extraordinary bravery John Stewart represents, describing his willingness to face both intergalactic and terrestrial dangers as central to what makes the character compelling, according to Collider.

“OutKast,” directed by Stephen Williams, aired August 30 and represented a significant structural detour from the show’s central Rushville murder mystery, instead spending its full runtime on John Stewart’s backstory. Given how much fan discussion the episode has already generated, both around its handling of race and Kelly’s specific comments about the ring’s selection criteria, it’s clear the show isn’t shying away from provocative creative choices as its first season continues.

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