I want to talk about the bastardization of John Stewart in Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment’s movie, Green Lantern: Beware My Power. Like most kids growing up in the late 90s and early 2000s, I came to John Stewart through Cartoon Network’s Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. Eventually I began to read comics and get a greater understanding of his character. Though he’s not my favorite Green Lantern, that spot is reserved for Kyle Rayner; I’m still a fan.

As a nerdy black kid I had very few people that looked like me in film and television. So to see one of the character’s I love used as a mockery in this film was a bit devastating. That might be overdramatic, but it’s where I am in my life. Aldis Hodge’s performance as John was okay. The thing about animation is that the story can be as big or as little as one makes it, but the real chops of a performer come through with voice acting. Aldis was very reserved, stoic, and stone-like. Usually, performers have the privilege of being helmed by DC alum Andrea Romano, but this film got shafted with Wes Gleason. I don’t want to bash Gleason, but I don’t know who to blame for this lackluster production. Most times you can blame the director or writer, but this feels deeper than surface level problems.

The film itself is visually on par with other DC animation properties, so that’s not the issue. The pacing is weird, so maybe we can blame the editor. Yet, with as much time as it takes to animated things, the director, Jeff Wamester, had plenty of time to change course. As did the writers John Semper and Ernie Altbacker.

One of the many things that bothered me in this film is the portrayal of John Stewart’s post-traumatic stress disorder. Film is a visual medium and we need show over telling. However, John is facing demons from his tour as a soldier and the killing he inflicted while in the military. When we meet John in the film we don’t know how long he has been dealing with his flashbacks and outbursts. But somehow, they all magically fade away as John begins to use the lantern ring and form flaky attachments with the people from space he just met. It’s not believable. Watching this movie hurt me as a DC fan, as a comic book fan, and as a lover of animation. There’s blame to handout to everyone and right now, I just want a refund.