10

I was watching the recent Green Lantern movie and noticed several references to Hal Jordan having green skin when he summons the Green Lantern costume. I am badly color-blind and would not have noticed the color change on my own.

My question: is this part of the standard Green Lantern lore? In the comic books, does Jordan turn green? Do other human Green Lanterns?

[adddendum from 2021] I can not believe I am typing the following words, but I am rewatching the movie. At 1:21:25, Hal Jordan's girlfriend, upon seeing his transformation, asks him "why is your skin green?". I'm not going to defy the consensus here that his skin is not green, but it seems like the script may have intended for it to be so.

Improve this question
4
  • Assuming you mean the Ryan Renolds movie, I loathe to admit that I've watched it several times, and I don't remember any references to green skin. There's several references "turning green" when the suit comes on, but e.g. his face and hands are still obviously caucasian. Are you sure you didn't mis-hear?
    – KutuluMike
    Jan 26, 2015 at 21:50
  • @michaelEdenfield I certainly may have misunderstood. There's a scene in which Hal is talking with his girlfriend/fiancé and she gestures to his face, I think, and makes a comment about the green. This evoked and earlier scene in which Hal transformed for his best friend and the guy responded "green!" In hindsight this seemed to be a reference to Hal himself but, as everybody here says Ryan Renolds' face does not turn green, I must have misunderstood.
    – Michael Stern
    Jan 26, 2015 at 23:51
  • its possible; the only thing I remember about the scene with Carol is the (possibly sole amusing) line about his cheekbones. And I'm certainly not subjecting myself to the movie again to check :) I do know the other scene you reference, the "green" is in reference to the sudden appearance of his green suit where his clothes would be.
    – KutuluMike
    Jan 27, 2015 at 0:14
  • @MichaelEdenfield Yeah, it wasn't that scene, it came later. But I am not going to watch the film again so this must remain a mystery (along with the mystery of how they green-lit (hah!) such a lousy script.
    – Michael Stern
    Jan 27, 2015 at 12:27

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
14

No, Human Green Lanterns do not become green when they are utilizing their powers. However, they can exhibit a green force field, particularly when they are in space or in other hostile conditions which could account for a green tint.

In the image below, the thick bright outline around Hal Jordan is his forcefield. However, the skin of his face is a regular human skin colour, except for his trademark green mask.

Hal Jordan with his forcefield up.

  • Different costumes for Green Lanterns can also give the impression (particularly because of their skin-tight nature) that their skin has turned green when they activate their costumes.

Four of the human green lanterns posing.

These gentlemen are/were Green Lanterns of Sector 2814 of which Earth is a member. Left to right: Guy Gardner, Hal Jordan, John Stewart and Kyle Rayner. All four are wearing black and green costumes, with very little actual skin shown. Guy's wearing a white belt. Everyone's wearing white gloves except John Stewart. Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner are wearing green masks.

  • As for the Green Lantern movie: The costume design there had a very skin-like appearance even replicating muscle groups in its overall textured design. If you were potentially colorblind, it COULD resemble musculature and in effect skin.

Hal Jordan from the movie; his shoulders and chest closely resemble actual muscle fibres.

Improve this answer
8
  • 2
    I find it hard to believe that the suit in that movie could be mistaken for anything real. It should be thrown back into the deepest pits of the Uncanny Valley, where it came from.
    – KSmarts
    Jan 26, 2015 at 21:36
  • 2
    Consider it if you were colorblind. You would not see the green only a grey whose hue and saturation might resemble skin. It was a bad design and I think they could have done any number of better implementations...
    – Thaddeus Howze
    Jan 26, 2015 at 21:44
  • 1
    The scene where he "gets" his suit actually implies that it's somehow stitched directly onto his body, which is why it looks like musculature, which I found to be one of the more idiotic things in an idiotic movie.
    – KutuluMike
    Jan 26, 2015 at 21:51
  • 1
    With all the pictures, I don't know how useful this answer is to a colorblind person...
    – jpmc26
    Jan 27, 2015 at 0:14
  • 1
    A colorblind person who can read will manage just fine.
    – Thaddeus Howze
    Jan 27, 2015 at 0:57
4

The only "green-skinned" Green Lantern from Earth was Jennifer-Lynn Scott-Hayden, aka "Jade". GL Wiki entry here, DC Wiki entry here.

Kyle and Jade

As the daughter of the first Green Lantern, magical Green Lantern Alan Scott from the 1940s Justice Society of America, Jennifer-Lynn had green skin and a "power pulse" on her right palm that duplicated her father's Green Lantern power. So Jade was a "living Lantern", first becoming a heroine in Infinity, Inc.

Jade later lost her "power pulse", as it came from the magical Starheart, as did her father's Green Lantern power battery. Kyle Rayner found her acting as a supermodel in the 1990s Green Lantern run, and the two became lovers. When Hal Jordan time-traveled into Kyle's time, Hal Jordan as Parallax tried to kill them both, but was driven off. Kyle took a copy of Hal Jordan's older Green Lantern power ring and gave it to Jade to let her become the Green Lantern of Earth while he roamed the universe to re-start the Green Lantern Corps without Oa or the Guardians of the Universe.

enter image description here

Jade lost her Green Lantern power ring, somehow ended up in the Rann-Thanagar War where she was killed, and her residual Starheart power was transferred to Kyle, who became Ion before Rebirth happened to Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps.

Jade later was resurrected by the White Lantern Living Entity during Blackest Night, and had her Starheart powers restored. At the end of Brightest Day Jade was with the Justice League of America before the universe was reset for 2016's DC Rebirth. Due to the story behind Alan Scott changing, Jennifer-Lynn and her brother Todd (Obsidian) were never born in the new continuity.

Jade has recently been resurrected again at the end of DC's Doomsday Clock run, but has not yet been seen in any other comics.

Improve this answer
3

Nope! No green skin.

All of the human lanterns retain their human skin colour.

A large portion of a Green Lantern's body is covered in a skin tight green suit, which I suppose could look like green skin. But It's just a suit, each Lantern stays human coloured.

Here's a list of all Lanterns from Earth.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.