If Arrow’s John Diggle gets to fulfill his evolution into Green Lantern, it would massively benefit the Arrowverse as it progresses further. Through years of speculations (and partially campaigning), a lot of fans have wanted to see David Ramsey’s character become a member of the Green Lantern Corps. This is all because of the similarities that Diggle has with the Green Lantern John Stewart, from Ramsey’s character being both from a military background as well as other traits to Stewart. Things got even more interesting during the Elseworlds crossover when John Wesley Shipp’s Flash from Earth-90 essentially confirmed that Diggle is a Green Lantern. During the 3-part event, Flash-90 recognized Earth-1’s Diggle and asked where his ring was, realizing that things were different from Earth-90.
In Arrow season 7, Diggle was pretty much confirmed to be an amalgamation of John Stewart as his stepfather Roy Stewart (who is John’s grandfather in the comics) made his debut in the Arrowverse. As the Green Arrow series got to its series finale, long-time viewers were finally given a payoff (or more of a tease) of Diggle’s destiny as a Green Lantern. In the character’s final minutes, a mysterious box from space crashes nearby him and as Diggle opens it, a green-glowing light shines upon his face. While a ring is never seen, it definitely was one as Diggle’s next adventure is teased upon before cutting away from him.
While Arrow’s story is over, Ramsey’s time in the Arrowverse definitely is not as he’s slated to come back next season. Not only will Ramsey direct 5 episodes across the franchise, but Diggle will also pop up on the various shows like The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and more. While it remains to be seen if Diggle will be suited up as Green Lantern at this point, the Arrowverse needs him to become the Emerald Knight. “Crisis on Infinite Earths” was the culmination of eight years of storytelling while wrapping up the first phase of The CW’s DC TV franchise. With several shows already set to end and others being on the way, Greg Berlanti’s shared universe is naturally going to explore new DC territories.
One of the corners of the DC Universe that the Arrowverse doesn’t frequently explore is adventures in space. While alien races like Kryptonians, Daxamites, Dominators have been present in the franchise, it’s mostly on Earth that these stories are executed. Now that Diggle is more or less becoming a Green Lantern, there are so many new worlds that they can introduce from that mythology. Oa has now a natural way to be incorporated since Diggle would obviously have to be initiated into the Green Lantern Corps. Through Diggle being a Green Lantern, more storylines could be set in space in future Arrowverse arcs.
Whether it’s in a future spinoff or maybe even as a supporting player on Superman & Lois, Diggle as Green Lantern is something that has to come to fruition. Since Diggle now lives in Metropolis with his family, Superman & Lois would be the proper show to have space storylines taking place. While a Green Lantern show on The CW will likely not happen since Berlanti has one happening on HBO Max, that doesn’t mean that limited storylines couldn’t take place. But after almost a full decade of telling various stories, it’s time the Arrowverse starts to explore outer space on a bigger level that includes Diggle as Green Lantern.
