Entertainment

Stuart Fails to Save the Universe wanted Green Lantern, but Lanterns said no

Putri ArdhanaPublished 2d ago2 min readBased on 5 sources
Stuart Fails to Save the Universe wanted Green Lantern, but Lanterns said no
Photo by Holiday Point / CC BY 2.0

Green Lantern was meant to be at the centre of this week's DC crossover on Stuart Fails to Save the Universe. The team were told no, because HBO has its own live-action Green Lantern series on the way.

Creator Zak Penn explained the swap in an interview with Deadline. Penn, who made the HBO Max comedy with Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, said producers could not use Green Lantern because of Lanterns, HBO's live-action series about the Corps. The request was blocked at the permissions stage.

So the writers changed heroes. In the Thursday episode, Stuart — played by Kevin Sussman — and his friends are trapped inside a comic book where Mr. Freeze is terrorising Gotham City. Golden Age Flash, the 1940s version of the speedster, steps in to help them escape the comic-book dimension. Short version: old Flash in, Green Lantern out.

The episode is a crossover, meaning characters and worlds from two different franchises meet in one story. Stuart Fails to Save the Universe is a sci-fi comedy and a spin-off of The Big Bang Theory, meaning it takes a supporting character from that sitcom and builds a new show around him, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Sussman returns as comic-shop owner Stuart, with Lauren Lapkus co-starring.

The starting point is deliberately messy. Stuart breaks a device built by Sheldon and Leonard and cracks open alternate universes, as reported by Yahoo Entertainment. That accident sends him bouncing through different genres and realities each week.

The Green Lantern ban did not kill the joke entirely. The latest episode still includes a nod to Lanterns, according to CinemaBlend. It plays as a wink to viewers who know why the hero is missing.

There is also a print tie-in. A Stuart Fails to Save the Universe comic book was adapted by Ivan Cohen from a teleplay by Lorre, Penn and Prady, Variety reported in July.

For fans, this means the DC door is open but not wide open. One universe can lend Gotham and the Flash while another holds Green Lantern back for its own launch. Stuart still gets out of the comic. He just needs a different rescue.

Related Articles