The Blue Lanterns Are the Most Important Heroes in the DC Universe, And I Can’t Wait for the DCU Movies to Prove It to the Entire World

DC Comics’ Blue Lanterns carry an essential superhero theme that sets DC apart from other publishers: hope. Ever since Green Lantern lore expanded to include the full range of the rainbow and the entire emotional spectrum, DC has added a piece of its own identity in a seemingly small corner of its comic universe.

While it’s often joked that DC is darker than what reader might expect superhero comics to be, hope shines in the darkness, and that’s why the Blue Lantern Corps means so much to me as a reader. Green Lanterns still take the lead in many of DC’s comics, and while willpower is vitally important to the battles that these DC heroes find themselves in, I have seen time and again that there is no willpower without hope.

Often lost in the background, the Blue Lantern Corps is like a support team in the fight and the medics of the battlefield. While not exactly fighting directly, Blue Lanterns like Saint Walker, and all those who have worn the blue ring, carry the torch for the theme of the DC Universe – a theme I see constantly represented in DC throughout the years as being the very lifeblood of these comics.

Who Are the Blue Lanterns, the Most Important Characters in the DC Universe?

Far More Important than the Green Lanterns

First appearing in a cameo role in Green Lantern #25 by Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis, Ethan Van Sciver, Oclair Albert, Júlio Ferreira, Rod Reis, Moose Baumann, and Rob Leigh,the Blue Lantern Corps make their official debut in the events of Blackest Night – by the same core creative team – where their light was essential for the Green Lanterns’ survival. The Blue Lantern Corps is powered by hope, and they work as a sort of support system for heroes like Green Lanterns, invigorating them to keep fighting. Seen in this way, the Green Lanterns’ willpower is powered by the hope that they can win the fight and save the day.

Unlike almost every other Lantern Corps, a Blue Lantern’s power isn’t meant to harm but to heal. Blue Lanterns don’t form traditional constructs but instead shine a bright light that reveals exactly what a person needs to keep believing in a better world. The Blue Lanterns are the medics of the DC Universe, working to support and fix rather than to punch and bleed. An ex-Guardian, Ganthet, said it best in describing this new corps before its birth,

Elsewhere, a flicker of hope will shine from deep space, like a lighthouse warning the ships away from the rocks. The blue light will hold the line in spirit if not in strength.

Like the Blue Lanterns, the DCU’s Main Theme Is the Power of Hope

The Blue Lanterns Shine Their Light in the Darkness of a Crisis

The DC Universe runs on hope. From the very beginning, DC’s comics have been founded on the idea of a better world, and Superman is still the physical embodiment of hope in this universe. Even with the recent creation of Darkseid’s hopeless Absolute Universe, DC is cementing its main universe as, essentially, a hopeful one. The Flash is another beacon of hope, and in Blackest Night, he got the chance to be the first DC hero to wear a Blue Lantern ring and say the iconic phrase: “All shall be well.“

DC’s greatest heroes are hopeful ones, and that’s more than needed, because DC famously has more crisis events than any other comic publisher. From Saint Walker to Ganthet, the preternatural calm of the Blue Lantern Corps is necessary in such a tumultuous universe. Recently, at the conclusion of Absolute Power by Mark Waid and Dan Mora, DC really honed in on this theme: without superpowers, these iconic heroes had nothing left but hope. Even Green Lantern had no willpower and so relied on his hope that they would win.

In DC’s New Era, the Blue Lanterns Need Their Chance to Shine

I Believe the DCU Needs the Blue Lantern Corps

As a comic fan, the Blue Lanterns really do mean something personal to me. My first tattoo was the Blue Lantern symbol; as with any of these heroes in a crisis, I got it during a hard time in my life. Just like the Absolute Universe, this wicked darkness that constantly assails comics is the very shadow by which DC’s hopeful light is framed. Hope doesn’t exist by itself but exists in response to something. Though DC may have its dark moments, the darkness is only there to give power to hope. Seeing this ideal play out with the heroes I grew up with helped me fight for hope in my own life.

It’s time for the Blue Lanterns to shine. Intrinsically, they work on the sidelines because hope is the fuel that powers every other positive emotion. But as the comics continue to show how integral this perspective is for DC and its heroes, I really hope that the on-screen DCU can pick up on this aspect too. The darkness is important for hope’s light to shine, and I think, like the comics, the movies – and the upcoming Green Lantern show on HBO – can really help the Blue Lanterns shine, making a better world for heroes and fans alike.

Green Lantern #25 is available now from DC Comics.