There have been so many Justice League members over the years that Zack Snyder’s Justice League could’ve included any number of cameos and teases. Two scenes in Sndyer’s film featured prominent League member Martian Manhunter, played by actor Harry Lennix. Snyder revealed in a new interview with Esquire, though, that last scene was meant to feature the Green Lantern known as John Stewart.
“The last scene with Martian Manhunter, originally, I had shot it in England. And the dialogue was very similar, but it was supposed to be one of the Lanterns,” Snyder said. “And then the studio had told me I wasn’t allowed to shoot anything. There would be no film made of any kind. During production, that was a thing they insisted on.”
The journey to Zack Snyder’s Justice League has been anything but traditional, though, and Snyder defied the order. “I shot stuff anyway, of course, in my yard. And one of the things I shot was the Green Lantern scene.”
“And then they asked me, when they saw the movie and saw that I put it in there, they’d take it out,” Snyder continued. “I said that I would quit if they tried to take it out. And I felt bad. The truth is I didn’t want fans not to have a movie, just based on that one stand I was going to take.”
“The Green Lantern was John Stewart,” Snyder said. The director told the ReelBlend podcast that he filmed the scene in his driveway with “an amazing actor” playing the Lantern. “I was like, I don’t want to take a person of color out of this movie, I’m not going to do it. But I felt like having Harry Lennix’s Martian Manhunter, that was okay.” Stewart debuted as Green Lantern in December 1971 as the very first Black superhero to appear in DC Comics.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League hit HBO Max on March 18–here’s how to watch. If you’re curious what’s different between the four-hour epic and the 2017 theatrical release, check out our breakdown. Once you’ve read it, you’ll know more about the differences than Snyder himself, because Chris Nolan and wife/co-producer Debbie Snyder warned him not to watch the 2017 release. You can also check out our review or find out what was up with the other new addition to the movie, the Joker.
