My Adventures with Superman Introduces a Very Different Green Lantern

This article contains spoilers for My Adventures With Superman season 3 episode 2.

Like most installments of the anime-influenced Adult Swim show, the third episode of My Adventures of Superman, “Mobile Toy Gundam,” features lots of DC Universe deep dives. Sure, we get Superman and his cousin Supergirl, as well as revised versions of classic villains Lex Luthor and the Toyman, and the introduction of the season’s big bad Cyborg Superman. We even see cosplayers dressed as members of the Teen Titans and the Challengers of the Unknown.

But as far as the My Adventures franchise is concerned, the most important character was the easiest to overlook. At the end of her keynote speech at a convention, Supergirl takes a question from a shy girl wearing an “s” stitched onto her blue shirt. The girl gives Supergirl the boost she needs, praising Kara for being a warrior and hoping that she can be just as brave some day. At the end of the statement, the shy girl tells the world her name: “Jessica Cruz.”

For most viewers, the name goes in one ear and out the other. But for comic fans, the name reveals that we just met the star of the sequel series, My Adventures with Green Lantern.

From Victim to Villain to Hero

You’d be forgiven for not recognizing the name Jessica Cruz, as she’s a relatively recent addition to the Green Lantern mythos. Long after the introduction of human Lanterns Hal Jordan, John Stewart, and Guy Gardner, to say nothing of deeper cuts like Simon Baz and Charlie Vicker, Jessica Cruz made her first proper appearance in 2014’s Justice League #31 by Geoff Johns and Doug Mahnke. An agoraphobe with crippling anxiety, Cruz was first chosen not to be Green Lantern, but to be Power Ring, the evil Green Lantern equivalent from the alternate reality Earth-3.

When Power Ring and his fellow members of the Crime Syndicate of America—including evil Superman Ultraman, the evil Batman known as Owlman, and the evil… uh, Lois Lane but also Wonder Woman sort of known as Superwoman—invaded our Earth, the Hal Jordan of Earth-3 died in the attack, leaving his ring to choose a new successor. The cruel ring forced Jessica into service, but she eventually found the strength to rebel, overriding the ring’s corruptive power and helping the heroes of our Earth repel the Crime Syndicate.

The feat was enough to capture the attention of the Guardians of the Universe, who recruited Jessica as a new member of the real Green Lantern Corps. Although she still struggled with doubts and occasional anxiety, Jessica’s unique perspective revealed new ways of using a Green Lantern ring, including getting her ring to call her “J-Bird” instead of the usual “Lantern Cruz.” And that’s adorable.

Since getting an official ring, Cruz has not only served alongside Simon Baz as one of two Green Lanterns on Earth, but she’s also been inducted into the Justice League. She briefly became a Yellow Lantern, the fear-based corps founded by the Green Lanterns’ greatest ally/enemy Sinestro. And currently, she serves as chief of Green Lantern Corps on the planet Oa.

Impressive as that record is, it seems like My Adventures with Superman and My Adventures with Green Lantern will take things back to basics. Voiced by Moana‘s Auliʻi Cravalho, the Jessica we meet clearly isn’t agoraphobic, but she is unsure of herself. Moreover, she already loves superheroes, especially Supergirl, and admires the Maid of Might’s willingness to fight for the powerless.

Dark Adventures With Superman

How will that connection to Supergirl play into My Adventures with Green Lantern? It’s not clear right off, but we can begin to guess, based on episode 2 alone.

At the end of “Mobile Toy Gundam,” Lex Luthor introduces Hank Henshaw’s new incarnation as Superman. Although Henshaw’s look is modeled after the Eradicator from ’90s Superman comics—a sentient Kryptonian machine who sometimes becomes lethal and violent—Henshaw is canonically the Cyborg Superman. Blaming Superman for the death of his family, Henshaw made himself look like Superman, plus a few Terminator-like enhancements, and tried to replace the Man of Steel after his deadly battle with Doomsday.

With the addition of Superboy later this season and John Henry Irons a.k.a. Steel’s introduction in previous episodes, Henshaw’s arrival as Cyborg Superman and the Eradicator completes the quartet of four new Superman who arrived in the Death of Superman story. Before that storyline ended with the return of Kal-El as the true Superman, Cyborg Superman revealed his evil intentions, destroying Hal Jordan’s home of Coast City. The event not only sent Jordan on a downward spiral, eventually turning him into the villain Parallax, but also Cyborg Superman as a permanent member of the Green Lantern rogues gallery.

Will Henshaw’s transformation in My Adventures With Superman mean trouble for Jessica, turning the shy convention-goer into the hero of My Adventures With Green Lantern? My might found out sooner than expected!

My Adventures With Superman releases new episodes every Saturday at midnight on HBO.