10 Years Later, the Coldest Hal Jordan Quote Is Still Way Too Much Aura for a Green Lantern 

Hal Jordan never suffered from a shortage of confidence. Even among DC superheroes who regularly challenge gods and survive the destruction of entire worlds or even universes, this Green Lantern carries himself like every being in the multiverse should already know his name. HBO’s Lanterns series, part of the DCU, presents an older Hal who feels burdened, and it is safe to say his best is behind him. But the comics demonstrate why he once appeared larger than life. That confidence produced one of his finest moments in Justice League: The Darkseid War: Green Lantern #1 (via DC Comics). When a Mother Box offers him godhood, Hal responds, a little grandiloquently:

You want a God? My name is Hal Jordan. My father cut the sky open.

Written by Tom King with art by Evan “Doc” Shaner, the one-shot was released on November 11, 2015. More than a decade later, the quote remains perhaps the purest distillation of everything that makes Hal inspiring, arrogant, and, still, somehow undeniably cool.

Hal Jordan’s Tribute to His Father Gives the Quote Its Real Power

Unlike most people, Hal can justify his boasts. After all, he had traveled all over the universe using his power ring, and he had overcome more threats than most heroes have faced. He even killed Krona, who was one of the Guardians of the Universe. That says a lot about him. In fact, it is not even his biggest feat, for that would be holding off an entire multiverse of supervillains in Absolute Power #4 (via DC Comics). But even when asked for a god by the Mother Box, Hal speaks about his father.

Martin Jordan, like Hal, was a test pilot. As a test pilot, if you didn’t know, it is necessary to take the unknown plane to its highest and fastest point, no matter what. They basically break through the sky to find their limits. 

In doing so, he opened up a new path for his son to follow and inspired him. Besides, he defined what it means to be a hero to Hal. Every time Hal is presented with a boundary by the universe, he takes it as a challenge rather than a limitation.

Even though the years have gone by, Hal measures his courage in terms of a man who once ruled the skies. The quote is quite arrogant. But at the same time, it is a treasured memory of the son who admires his father all his life. In a nutshell, it is very Hal.

Lanterns Only Scratched the Surface of Hal Jordan’s True Power

Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan in his Green Lantern costume in Lanterns | Credits: DC Studios

I love Kyle Chandler’s rendition of Hal in Lanterns. He captures the arrogance, humor, and even the battered decency beneath the character’s bravado. However, this is clearly a Hal past his prime, and even then he is a force to be reckoned with. And yet, he is shown to be smarter than John Stewart (Aaron Pierre). For instance, the way he gleaned immediately that “Hector Hammond” was bluffing in Lanterns Episode 4.

That approach works for the story, but it means live-action DC still has not done justice to the Hal of the comics. The terrible 2011 Green Lantern film gave him his youth and power but none of his mythic stature (though the 2011 Green Lantern movie could have been way worse). Lanterns understands the man far better, yet rarely shows us the fearless cosmic hero he used to be. It shows the consequences of his failures without fully demonstrating the cosmic power and indomitable will that once made him one of DC’s greatest heroes.

It is the aforementioned Darkseid War one-shot that reveals that missing scale. When Parademons overwhelm Oa and bring the Green Lantern Corps to the edge of extinction, Hal combines his ring with a Mother Box and becomes the God of Light. He accepts divine power because it offers the only remaining opportunity to save his fellow Lanterns. Between one awful movie and a series about his decline, audiences have never seen Hal like this: at his best. Perhaps an Elseworlds DC movie in the future?

Has live-action DC done justice to Hal Jordan? Share your thoughts below.