DC Shares Wild New Green Lantern Design

The story so far in the mainline Green Lantern series at DC has been throwing a lot at the readers lately. Jeremy Adams' run has particularly juggled two tonally disparate plotlines in the most recent issues, between Kyle Rayner's food-related mayhem with Big Belly Burger's shady dealings being exposed, all while Hal Jordan tracks down the source of the Emotional Spectrum. Suffice to say, it's been rather loaded, but the latest glimpse shows Hal landing at his destination, yet looking worse for the wear. It appears, after being separated from Jayna and Tobi Y2K, that Hal has landed in what appears to be the foundational past, encountering a Lantern looking an awful lot like him.

Addressing Hal and suggesting they were both called to this place, this is all revealed in the preview for Green Lantern #40, where Guy Gardner's narration reveals to Kyle just what Hal had been up to since reading from the Book of Oa. The character he encounters, until proven otherwise, merely looks identical to Hal in terms of build and costume design, compared to other Lanterns, but is notably wearing Krona's Power Gauntlet. The first weaponization of willpower, its practically primordial origins and repercussions suggest Hal is about to witness a truth that could radicalize him or others like him, as the issue teases his big fight against Krona and the other Guardians concealing a terrible secret.

Green Lantern Reveals Tweaked Design For Krona's Power Gauntlet Wearer

While Maltusians like Krona are reasonably able to withstand the power of the Willpower Entity Ion channeled into a weapon, this Lantern, appearing to be another Hal, is horrifically scarred on the quadrant of his body surrounding his gauntlet-wearing arm. Given its ability to forge entirely new rings, the idea of it physically harming wearers not normally accustomed to such raw power grafted onto themselves isn't too much of a stretch.

It's a jarring scene, but given the nature of the Gauntlet, and how it was the product of a renegade who saw what other Guardians were willing to discard, it's clear Hal is in for quite the discovery upon the release of Green Lantern #40, set to hit shelves on October 28, 2026.

DC Promises Major Universe Bombshell With Next Green Lantern Issue

Across the multimedia landscape of DC's various universal continuities, the promise of being changed forever has risked perhaps overpromising on its fundamental shifts. After all, fans had to get used to big changes to the old DCEU in theaters, alongside the hefty claim that the Rock as Black Adam would signal that the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe is about to change. But with Hal tracking down the source of the Emotional Spectrum, coming to a head with the secret the Guardians of the Universe tried to conceal, alongside Krona's legacy, there's still opportunity here.

The secret of the Guardians is tied enough to fundamental DC Universe lore, whatever it may be, with the potential to shatter reality depending on who unearths it. In recent issues, characters have also been suspicious that monumentally powerful threats like Darkseid haven't been totally eradicated, with Major Force being ready to take drastic measures to prepare. As he suggested, on Earth there's an arms race going on, and should Hal come across a weapon far more powerful still than even his Green Lantern ring, all while unearthing a conspiracy promising to be far more sinister and far-reaching, the consequences could indeed be massive, if handled right at least.