Batman has worked with many heroes over his long career fighting crime, but the one he hates working alongside most is Green Lantern. The Dark Knight has teamed up with almost every major hero the DC Universe has to offer. While he rarely has issues teaming up with Wonder Woman or Superman, he has made it clear that Green Lantern’s powers pose a major problem to his tactics.
While thinking about their past relationship after the supposed death of Batman, Hal Jordan recalls a time when he and Batman had a major confrontation. Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis’ Blackest Night #0 shows Batman and Green Lantern having to be held apart by the Justice League, as Batman rages that Hal’s powers gave away his position. Hal goads Batman, pointing out that the real issue is that Batman relies on the shadows because he doesn’t have any actual powers.
Batman and Green Lantern have long had a rivalry in Justice League comics, and this moment shows how the creative team thought about Hal and Bruce’s relationship – especially the various points of contention that they could have used as battles in their larger war of personalities.
One of the biggest aspects of Batman’s approach to fighting crime is the ability to remain undetected. Batman has worked hard to turn himself into a myth, being able to appear out of the shadows to terrorize criminals. One of the key parts of Batman’s war on crime is convincing criminals that he could be in any shadow. This doesn’t really work when he has a teammate who is a literal giant glowing spotlight that eradicates any darkness around him. This makes any Batman and Green Lantern team-up a major issue, since it removes one of Batman’s biggest advantages of stealth.
This isn’t the only reason that Batman dislikes Hal Jordan specifically, though. During the darkest time in Hal Jordan’s life, he became the villain Parallax. What resulted was him slaughtering the entire Green Lantern Corps and even fighting against the Justice League as he tried to start the Zero Hour. It was no secret that Batman held negative feelings towards Hal Jordan for quite a while after that. Even when Hal Jordan returned as a hero, Batman continued to be distrustful of him. Parallax built on Batman’s distrust of the entire Green Lantern Corps, distrusting an organization that exercises power over so much of the galaxy (or, from Hal’s perspective, disliking any authority outside his own control.)
Batman has teamed up with tons of characters, and there are many characters he truly does enjoy working with. There’s no denying that Batman and Superman have an amazing friendship, but when there are so many varied powers in the Justice League, it’s easy to see why some match-ups simply don’t work. Batman and Green Lantern are a team that tends to come with a lot of problems. Not only do Green Lantern‘s powers conflict with Batman‘s entire style, but that just gives Bruce Wayne another excuse to express his grudge against Hal Jordan.