John Stewart shines bright in DC Comics’ latest animated feature.
Meet John Stewart. A former marine and now suffering from PSTD. He is chosen by the Guardians of the Universe to become the last of the Green Lanterns. Now with no training or instructions, John is left to figure out how to use the ring on his own. Pretty soon he’s thrust into an interplanety war with only a small number of new allies to rely on. John must find his inter-strength to be worthy of the mantle of Green Lantern.
Green Lantern: Beware My Power is the latest film from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment’s new series of Tommowverse series. The movie focuses on John Stewart, who first appeared in Green Lantern (Volume 2) #87 (December 1971/January 1972). In fact the title of the movie comes from the comic’s story name. Created by Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams, Stewart was included at a time when more non-Caucasians were needed as role models. Unfornutally at the time, Stewart really wasn’t used that much in comics. In the 1980, when Hal Jordan quit being a Green Lantern, Stewart really came into his own. As the years went on, more writers really found great ways to work with Stewart, that he even was the Green Lantern in the Justice League cartoon. John Stewart is still around today, as a shining example to other members of the Green Lantern Corps and the superhero community at large.
The story was pretty good and moved at a nice pace. Great action sequences and enjoyable from benign to end. Ernie Altbacker and John Semper really gave Stewart his own unique voice in the film. It really works. Very solid. In the film, Stewart spends a lot of time with Green Arrow, so it really has that O’Neil and Adams Hard Travelling Heroes to it. Loved that. Under the direction of Jeff Wamester, all the components really come together here.
Aldis Hodge voices Stewart and he does a top-notch job. I was first introduced to Hodge on the TV show Leverage, and I really enjoyed his character there. He has since gone on to take on many different types of roles, but his acting really does impress me. This wasn’t Hodge’s first voice-over role, but his inflections in the words give his own personal life to Stewart. This won’t be the only superhero that Hodge will be playing. He’s Hawkman in the upcoming Black Adam movie and from what I’ve seen in the trailers, I can’t wait.
Jimmi Simpson voice Green Arrow and I don’t feel he did a bad job. There were some times in the film where I felt Simpson was just speaking too quickly. It just bugged me at times. I’ve seen Simpson in several projects as well and feel he’s a good actor. In the film, Green Arrow is really trying to put on a brave face and be the veteran hero, and Simpson does that well.
I have to admit, it took me a little while to warm up to the Tomorroverse, but it’s really starting to work for me.
The film comes with a bonus feature, John Stewart: The Power and the Glory, in which several comic creators discuss the importance of John Stewart and his place in the DC Universe. While overall did enjoy this, it did bother me that neither O’Neil nor Adams were included in this featurette. I do realize that both men have passed away, but there is plenty of archived footage out there of both of them discussing Stewart. If I could find it then a huge company like Warner Bros could find it too. That’s the real shame here.
Overall I really enjoyed this film. We really go deeper into the Tomorrowverse with this feature and it’s an enjoyable ride.
Green Lantern: Beware My Power is available now on 4K, Blu-ray, and Digital.
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