One of the most well-known DC Comics characters and a founding member of the Justice League of America is Hal Jordan. The character is one of the top tiers in the DC world and made his debut in issue number 22 of the comic book series “Showcase.” He had repeatedly saved the world and the universe as a green lamp.
He is one of the most honored members of the Green Lantern Corps and has willpower that no other green lantern can match. Hal did, however, occasionally take on a villainous persona and even transform into a Yellow Lantern.
We will speak about one such instance where Hal from the animated film “Green Lantern: Beware my Power” went bad today. In addition to giving us a clear explanation of John Stewart’s origin story as a Green Lantern, the movie also gave us a new, extremely powerful Hal Jordan.
Jeff Wamester, the director, has an extraordinary talent for weaving together small elements into a story. He first demonstrated his talent in “Justice Society: World War II,” and he did so again in the most recent Green Lantern film. So let us get started right now.
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Beware, my power showcases Hal Jordan as being corrupted by the Parallax entity. Previously in the “Green Lantern, Emerald Twilight, New Dawn” comics, Hal Jordan got his mind snapped after Mongul destroyed Coast City and became Parallax, wiping out the entire Green Lantern Corps. After the whole corps was erased, Kyle Rayner was awarded the last power ring, whereas in the movie, as mentioned earlier, it was John Stewart who got the last Green Lantern after Hal wiped off the rest.
There has always been debate over why Parallax preferred choosing Hal Jordan over Sinestro, who was a Yellow Lantern. It seemed that the main motive of Parallax was to erase the Green Lanterns and manifest the energy of their power source; for this, Hal was the best candidate. This has become more conclusive after Hal’s narrative from the recent green lantern movie, during his revelation scene.
Hal was assigned to monitor the testing of the zeta beams, a joint venture of the Thanagarian and the Ranians. During its testing, the device malfunctioned and got Hal teleported to a deserted place where Sinestro attacked him. Being weakened, Hal asked his ring to leave him and look for help as he was worried Sinestro would take it and use it.
But that was not Sinestro’s plan, who then infected Hal with the Parallax parasite, the living embodiment of fear. Sinestro hoped that it would bend Hal to his will, but instead, it gave him his ultimate purpose: to take down every Green Lantern and become the new Guardian. Sinestro and Hal attacked Oa and killed every Guardian and Green Lantern that were present but then what happened scared Sinestro as well.
Hal summoned all the Green Lantern rings from their deceased wielders and wore them on all his fingers. This created an ultrapowerful and vicious version of Hal Jordan, also known as Parallax. His new final physical form is very similar to what we had seen in Green Lantern: First Flight, except that this time he was also fueled with the power of fear which gave him a yellow aura as well. On seeing Hal’s new form, Sinestro was so scared that he tried to flee before Hal caught him and made him one of his henchmen.
Hal then planned to overtake Sardath’s Zeta beam, eradicate the entire Universe and create his own one. He was the mind behind Sinestro’s attacks on Thanegarians and Ranians so that he could get hold of Sardath’s Zeta beam. During the early moments of the film, Hal is shown to be missing and later revealed to be kept captive by Sinestro, finally revealed as Parallax towards the end.
The movie also showcased a fight between Hal and the new Green Lantern, John Stewart, who also had an equivalent amount of willpower. The movie portrays a wide spectrum of emotions. From John’s trauma to Oliver’s loss, everything was detailed to the right amount.
The reason why John Stewart is chosen is because of his undying will to make things alright and survive. Even with his trauma, he tried to lead a normal life and also stand toe to toe against Hal Jordan, the greatest Green Lantern ever. After returning to Earth, he tried helping Green Arrow ease his guilt of killing his close friend by asking him to join him for a meal. But Green Arrow denies which was again a subtle detail showcasing the pain he is going through.
The same amount of detailing is done for Hal Jordan, who seemed fed up with the chaos in the Universe and wanted to end and recreate it. Although Parallax had corrupted him, Hal could still use his green lantern powers to summon the rings from his dead comrades. Throughout the movie, he kept his motives hidden until he got hold of Sardath’s Zeta beam tech, after which he killed Sardath in cold blood.
This happens in the presence of Green Arrow, Hawkgirl, and John, after which they all try to stop Hal. John and Hal Jordan exchange blows, and John nearly succeeds in taking him down. He removes all the green lantern rings from Hal but refrains from killing him. Hal, however, gets up and attacks John, but Oliver takes him down with one of his arrows.
A detailed understanding reveals that Hal was always amongst the most courageous members of the Green Lantern Corps for which he could gain control over Parallax. In different scenarios, we have also witnessed Hal becoming a yellow lantern which explains that he cannot be taken down by fear and rather could control it.
If things had gone according to Sintstro’s plan, Parallax would have made Hal one of his henchmen, but instead, he was under Hal’s mercy. Hal had once forged a Green Lantern out of his sheer will in “Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps: Rebirth” issue 1 and had also taken ultimate forms like being the Spectre.
All that is enough to conclude that if the team of superheroes had not stopped Hal, he would have definitely wiped off the Universe in “Beware My power”. His willpower was undefeatable, and the only other entity that managed to stop him was another human sharing a similar range of willpower, John Stewart.
DC comics have always portrayed the possibilities and dangers of Superman going evil, but Hal is definitely not to be ignored. In his powerful form, he is catastrophic, and while Superman could be weakened or even taken down with a piece of Kryptonite, one surely needs a hell lot of willpower to take down Hal.