Forget Sinestro, Batman Became a Green Lantern Villain in Darkest DC Story 9 Years Ago

DC’s Lanterns introduced Thaal Sinestro in the show, hinting at the corrupting powers of the Ring and the legends who fell for it. However, DC reinvented not just Sinestro but also its most just hero into a ruthless Green Lantern villain in the story Batman: Dawnbreaker. The 2017 arc written by Sam Humphries looks at an alternative universe where Batman gives in to vengeance.

On Earth-32, a young Bruce Wayne received a power ring the night his parents died, used it to execute Joe Chill, and never stopped. It is one of DC’s darkest ‘what if’ stories, and it still echoes through the Green Lantern mythos today.

Batman Used the Power of the Ring for His Own Revenge in Dawnbreaker

Batman in Dawnbreaker | Credits: DC Comics

Batman is the symbol of justice. Bruce Wayne turned his grief into something worth fighting for and became the protector of his city, continuing his family’s legacy in the shadows. He is proof that while his tragedy defined him, he used it to turn it into something positive and just, especially with his no-kill rule. However, Dawnbreaker, like Absolute Batman, sees him in a different light.

In the story, a power ring finds its way to a bereaved Bruce Wayne, following his grief and fearlessness. However, instead of using it for justice, Bruce uses his grief to bypass its forbidden rule of using lethal force and kills Joe Chill. This corrupts the ring’s light, and he begins to kill members of his Rogues’ Gallery. He even kills Commissioner Gordon.

When the Guardians of the Universe send a contingent of Green Lanterns to reclaim the corrupted ring, Bruce slaughters them too, wiping out the Guardians alongside them. Bruce Wayne then steps into the Green Lantern power battery but rejects the identity of a Lantern, fueled entirely by vengeance instead of justice. When his collapsing world catches the attention of the Batman Who Laughs, he’s recruited into Barbatos’s Dark Knights, the strike force of evil Batmen who later invade the core DC Universe during Dark Nights: Metal.

Sinestro fell because of arrogance and a desire to rule. Batman, in this one corner of the Dark Multiverse, fell because grief curdled into something with no brakes at all, arguably a scarier villain origin than Sinestro ever got. 

Sinestro and Dawnbreaker Batman Are Not the Only Lanterns to Go Rogue

Sinestro | Credits: DC Comics

Sam Humphries’ Dawnbreaker is part of the Dark Multiverse timeline, but DC’s main continuity itself has many Lanterns who went corrupted because of the ring’s powers. Sinestro fell from grace because of his arrogance, and it proved that the ring is only as effective as its wielder. However, he is not its most destructive example.

In the Reign of the Supermen!, the alien warlord Mongul, along with Cyborg Superman, obliterates Hal’s hometown of Coast City, killing millions while Hal is off-world. Consumed by grief, Hal uses his ring to briefly resurrect the city, violating the Corps’ core rule against using rings for personal gain. When the Guardians of the Universe shut him down, Hal snaps completely. 

He flies to Oa and cuts through the Green Lantern Corps to reach the Central Power Battery, killing fellow Lanterns like Kilowog along the way and even his old mentor-turned-rival, Sinestro. Thaal Sinestro, too, is dishonorably discharged from the Corps as he used the ring to rule his homeworld.

All these stories make the same argument: a Green Lantern ring does not create heroism; it just amplifies whatever is already inside the person wearing it.

Do you think Lanterns will explore this side of Hal Jordan and Sinestro? Comment below.