Why John Diggle Shouldn't Be Green Lantern

With all these heroes suiting up on Arrow this season, and surely more to come, one of the biggest fan theories is the true identity of John Diggle. Many people want to see him suit up as the Green Lantern, full with a reveal that his name is actually John Stewart. While I'm all for seeing Stewart appear in the series, and was even on board with this theory for a while, I've come to realize that this would be a terrible mistake.

You have such a likable character in his own right, a person of color no less, why shoe-horn him into the mold of a previous character? I think it'd be a better idea to see Diggle suit up on his own terms, perhaps as an original hero?

Batman: The Animated Series created several popular characters on its own. Look no further than the fan response to Harley Quinn. The character has her own comics series, is making her big screen appearance in 2016 (NEXT YEAR. HOLY SHIT. TIME FLIES), and has even grown beyond her initial comic status quo. Most long-running comic book characters don't go through that transformation, like, ever.

Or even glance at Felicity Smoak. The character was already pre-established in comics continuity and there were rumors of Felicity being turned into Oracle (Remember that time Oracle was the name of an episode? They changed it to The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak). Naturally, I believe the writers came to the conclusion this was a bad idea and allowed this version of the character to be herself. And that's what should happen with all these characters. Stay true to the versions presented onscreen. There has been no ground rules about strictly adhering to comics history anyways (nor should they).

In a more logical sense for the show, Green Lantern doesn't entirely fit in with this aesthetic. A guy who can make up any weapon he wants and flies around in space doesn't fit with the atmosphere of Starling City. As a small mini-event or a trilogy of episodes (much like The Canary Trilogy) it's worth exploring these different outlets of super heroism. But again, this isn't even the primary concern.

Just let Diggle be Diggle. Give him his own cool superhero identity. Minus the tragic backstory. We don't need to see another female character killed off for man pain.