He's not the most well known character in DC, even though he might be one of the most powerful. He's Green Lantern, and he's had a weird history in comics. Most of it stems from finding ways to make him not the most broken DC character, or to make him interesting as well as being overpowered. Here's a few times those attempts were more interesting than he was.
7: The First Green Lantern Was Weak to Wood
Alan Scott was the first person to become Green Lantern, forging his own ring and lantern out of a mysterious meteorite he found, because that's normal. He made force fields and constructs, just like the modern Lanterns we know and love, but one sliver of oak and his powers are rendered useless. Darkseid with his Omega beams have no chance against Alan Scott, but a thug with a baseball bat and the Lantern is helpless.
6: His Love Interest Became a Super Villain
Carol Ferris was the love interest of the most well-known Green Lantern, Hal Jordan. She was the stereotypical strong independent business woman who don't need no man, whose daddy owned the company Jordan worked for (Never date the bosses daughter). At one point she obtained a sapphire ring, which had basically the same power as Hal's but was retconned to work using the power of a broken heart. Star Sapphire was one of Green Lantern's fiercest opponents, teaming up during the Darkest Night story arc to stop the Black Lanterns (We'll get to that later). Heroes have dated villains before (See Batman dating Catwoman and Talia Al Guhl and Wolverine dating every female in the Marvel universe) but none have ever dated someone that then became a villain they later had to fight.
5: He's Been Disarmed Several Times
The Green Lantern's power ring is one of the most powerful weapons in the universe, so you would think it would be hard to take from the wielder, but it turns out... It isn't really. Batman has proven that he can take the ring whenever he wants, just by distracting the Lantern for a few seconds. Deathstroke proved that he could stop a Lantern from using the ring by enforcing his will into the ring despite it being on the Lantern's hand.
They really need to put a lock on those things...
4: The War Of Light
For years there was only one Green Lantern group, then in a massive storyline it was revealed that they're were several different rings of varying colors, each powered by a different emotion across the galaxy. For about a year the Lanterns tore the galaxy apart, while anyone who didn't care or wanted to follow the saga was left to just watch the light show. It lead to the Darkest Day, when a black ring gave DC an excuse to play with zombies, and then Brightest Day, where they brought a group of dead heroes back to life permanently.
It's a good way to make a character relevant by making him the focus of every comic book for over a year, and then give him at least two dozen new friends to play with.
3: Superman Met the Lantern Responsible for Krypton
Tomar-Re was on his way to Krypton to save it when he was blinded by a solar flare (You'd think the ring could protect against that but here we are) and he didn't get to the dying planet in time before it exploded. Superman eventually met the Lantern in what was probably one of the most awkward meetings in comic history, right up with Jean Grey finding out that Wolverine was sent by Magnito to assassinate Xavior and Gambit accidentally destroying Blob's costume and got full on Blob nudity.
2: Green Lantern Likes Handing Out Rings
Besides the full-time Lanterns, rings have been given to, among others, Superman, Batman, Scarecrow, Lex Luthor and the Flash. During the War of Light, rings were being handed out to anyone with fingers, and to anyone dead once the zombies started coming out. The equivalent of this would be Batman making bat-suits for all his friends, or Tony Stark making Iron Man suits for other people....
Oh wait, that is a thing...
1: Green Lantern Once Nearly Destroyed the Universe Then Became One of the Most Powerful Beings in the Galaxy
Okay follow this:
Green Lantern's hometown was destroyed, and his bosses wouldn't let him rebuild it, so he went berserk, killed all the Green Lanterns in the galaxy, and started calling himself Parallax.
Still trying to find a way to save his town, he went back in time with a bunch of people to restart the universe. Basically hitting the reset button on reality.
Okay now buckle up cause it gets weirder:
After he was defeated, he died trying to save the earth from another disaster, partially redeeming himself. In the afterlife it was revealed that Parallax was actually an alien energy being that was trapped in the Green Lantern energy that found its way into Hal Jordan's mind and possesses him. To redeem himself, Hal became the Specter, a powerful angel of vengeance. After years of being dead he was brought back to life because... Reasons... and the Parallax/Specter thing was forgotten.
Superheroes can have incredibly convoluted stories, since they've been written for nearly a century with different authors and influences effecting the characters. Green Lantern, particularly Hal Jordan, has been through an especially complex history, because Green Lantern is a complex character with complex powers.
Can you really blame DC for not being able to make a decent movie out of this mess?
-JOE
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