‘Arrow’ Season 4: Green Lantern Will Not Appear; EP Says Hal Jordan Is ‘Too Big’

“Arrow” has plenty of superheroes, but one masked marauder won’t be visiting Star City: the Green Lantern. Executive producer Wendy Mericle confirmed that the hero, aka Hal Jordan, won’t be on “Arrow” Season 4 despite much speculation that he would appear.

“The truth is, that character is way too big,” Mericle told the Emmys website. “[Hal Jordan’s] in the feature film’s world. We’re going to be able to play around with it, but we’re not going to be seeing Hal Jordan on the show.”

“Arrow” already has its fair share of heroes. The Green Arrow (Stephen Amell), Black Canary (Katie Cassidy) and Speedy (Willa Holland) all share screen time on a regular basis with guest stars such as Canary (Caity Lotz) and the Atom (Brandon Routh). The Green Lantern’s story is substantial enough that there apparently just isn’t enough room on the CW’s superhero show.

Many fans thought the Green Lantern might be introduced after they spied an Easter egg in the Season 4 premiere. In Coast City, someone appeared with the name “Jordan” on his jacket. Mericle explained that it was an intentional reference, but it was just to make fans smile. “It is a nod to Hal Jordan. Hal Jordan is in Coast City,” Mericle explained. Still, that doesn’t mean the show will be going over there to meet up with him.

See the Easter egg below:

The news that Hal Jordan won’t be in the CW drama isn’t too surprising. Executive producer Marc Guggenheim previously said it was unlikely because of the “Green Lantern Corps” movie that’s due out in 2020. “It would be great, but I doubt it very much,” Guggenheim told the Hollywood Reporter in July. While Guggenheim didn’t appear optimistic, many fans still held onto hope that there was a very slight chance the hero could be on the CW. Mericle’s recent refusal was much more definite.

Audiences have been speculating for quite some time that Diggle (David Ramsey) would turn out to be the Green Lantern, but that clearly isn’t going to happen. However, even before the producers said they wouldn’t use the DC Comics pilot, Ramsey said he didn’t want to be a superhero at all.

“I think there’s something very normal about him that’s part of the appeal,” Ramsey told ComicBook.com about his character in May. “I think if you put a mask on him as part of the Green Lantern Corps .... you lose part of the ‘everyguy’ character.” Fans will have to tune in to see whether the Green Arrow’s friend ever develops a superhero persona.

“Arrow” Season 4 airs on The CW Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST.