Zack Snyder almost broke the internet—again—when he revealed he’d actually filmed a Green Lantern scene in his driveway. Yeah, his driveway. Imagine one of the biggest directors in Hollywood, a green screen, and a guy in a motion-capture suit standing next to the trash cans. It sounds like a low-budget fan film, but that’s the reality of how close we got to seeing John Stewart join the Justice League.
Most people think the Green Lantern stuff was just a rumor. It wasn’t.
Basically, Snyder had a very specific vision for the end of his four-hour epic. He didn’t want Martian Manhunter to be the one waking up Bruce Wayne at the lake house. He wanted the ring. He wanted the green glow. He even cast the actor, Wayne T. Carr, to play the iconic John Stewart. But then the studio stepped in, and things got messy.
The Secret Driveway Shoot
Honestly, the drama behind the camera was just as intense as the stuff on screen. During the additional photography for Zack Snyder’s Justice League (often called the Snyder Cut), the director was basically operating under a "don't ask for permission, ask for forgiveness" policy. He knew Warner Bros. was skittish about the Green Lanterns because they had their own plans for a TV show and a movie that never seemed to happen.
So, Snyder shot it anyway.
He hired Wayne T. Carr, a relatively unknown but physically imposing actor, to play John Stewart. They didn't have a big studio budget for this specific scene, so they literally set up a rig in Snyder's driveway during the pandemic. Carr wore a CG tracking suit because the plan was to build the digital Green Lantern armor later. Snyder’s goal was simple: he wanted to "unite the seven." The marketing for the original 2017 movie used that phrase constantly, but if you count the heroes, there were only six. Green Lantern was supposed to be the seventh.
The scene featured Stewart arriving to warn Bruce about the coming threat of Darkseid. It was a hand-off, a bridge to the sequels that Snyder had mapped out in his head. When the studio saw the footage, they told him to take it out. They were "aggressively" against it. Snyder even threatened to quit the project—a movie he wasn't even getting paid for—just to keep the scene. Eventually, they compromised. He swapped John Stewart for Martian Manhunter (Harry Lennix), and the rest is history.
Why WB Actually Blocked John Stewart
You’ve probably heard a dozen theories about why the studio was so "anti-Lantern." Some say it was because of the 2011 Ryan Reynolds disaster. Others think it was pure spite.
The reality is more corporate.
Warner Bros. was developing a Green Lantern Corps project with Geoff Johns and a big-budget HBO Max series. They had this "one version at a time" rule that they’ve since mostly abandoned, but back then, it was law. They didn't want Snyder's version of John Stewart to "confuse" the audience or lock them into a casting choice they hadn't approved.
It’s kinda ironic when you think about it. The projects they were protecting ended up stuck in development hell for years, while the fans were screaming for the version that was already filmed and sitting on a hard drive.
The Lanterns We Actually Saw
Even though Carr's John Stewart was nixed, Snyder still managed to sneak some emerald energy into the film. If you look closely at the "History Lesson" sequence—the big battle where the Old Gods and humans fight Darkseid—you see Yalan Gur. He’s the ancient Lantern who gets his hand cut off before his ring flies away.
Then there’s the Knightmare sequence.
In Cyborg's vision of the dark future, we see a brief, heartbreaking shot of Kilowog. He’s dead. He’s lying in the ruins of the Justice League's headquarters, a reminder that in the "Snyderverse" timeline, the Green Lantern Corps tried to stop Darkseid and failed miserably.
What Was Supposed to Happen in Justice League 2 and 3?
Snyder didn't just want a cameo. He had a whole arc.
According to the storyboards that were leaked and displayed at a Dallas exhibit, the Green Lanterns were going to be the "cavalry" in the final war. In Justice League 3, the entire Corps was supposed to descend on Earth to join the Amazons, Atlanteans, and the remaining heroes for a massive showdown against Darkseid’s armada.
- John Stewart would have been the main representative on Earth.
- Hal Jordan was also in the plans. Snyder has hinted in interviews that he even considered reaching out to Ryan Reynolds for a "multiverse" style appearance, though he ultimately leaned toward a new Hal Jordan.
- The Lanterns would have been the ones to explain the cosmic scale of the Anti-Life Equation.
It would’ve been huge. Instead, we got a glimpse of what could have been.
Is There a "Snyder Cut" with Green Lantern Out There?
Technically, yes.
Snyder has admitted that a version of the movie exists on his laptop with the Wayne T. Carr footage integrated. He’s even shared a low-res image of Carr in character on his Vero social media account. The suit looks digital but tactical, very much in line with the "ancient" look of Yalan Gur’s armor.
But don't hold your breath for an official release. With James Gunn now heading DC Studios and a new Lanterns show in the works starring Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre, the "Snyderverse" is officially a closed chapter.
If you’re a fan looking to see more of this specific vision, your best bet is to follow the concept artists who worked on the film. Guys like Jerad S. Marantz have shared incredible designs for Kilowog and other Lanterns that never made the final cut. It's a bittersweet look at a cinematic universe that was always just one scene away from being complete.
How to Track Down the Deleted Footage
Since the scene isn't in the Max version of the movie, here is what you can do to see the "lost" Green Lantern:
- Check Zack Snyder's Vero: He’s posted the most behind-the-scenes looks at Wayne T. Carr there.
- Look for the "Justice Con" Interviews: Snyder goes into great detail about the conversation he had with the studio regarding the "leverage" he used to get Martian Manhunter in the film as a replacement.
- Search for Wayne T. Carr’s Twitter: He has posted a few high-quality photos of himself in the mo-cap rig and even some fan-made renders that Snyder endorsed.
While the "driveway cut" might never see the light of day in 4K, the story of how it almost happened remains a legendary piece of DC movie lore. It’s a reminder that sometimes, the biggest battles in superhero movies happen in the boardroom, not on the battlefield.
