WARNING: Contains Potential Spoilers for ABSOLUTE POWER #4!Green Lantern Hal Jordan has just uncovered a loophole for achieving infinite willpower, elevating his Lantern abilities to an unprecedented level. However, what the Emerald Knight accomplishes with this power boost is even more impressive, marking one of his most badass and overpowered feats to date.

Jay Garrick, Wally West, Bart Allen, and Max Mercury lend their willpower to Hal Jordan, helping him hold back the multiverse.

Mark Waid and Dan Mora’s Absolute Power #4 brings their summer crisis event to a close as DC's heroes claim victory over Amanda Waller. The finale is packed with memorable moments, but one of the most badass highlights is Hal Jordan single-handedly holding off the entire multiverse.

As part of her contingency plan, Waller had struck deals with villains across the multiverse to aid her in the war against DC's heroes. When the final battle breaks out, villains start pouring through the multiverse portal, including notable fan favorites like Earth-3’s Owlman and Ultraman.​​

Green Lantern Borrows Flash-Willpower, Boosting His Powers to Insane Levels

Jay Garrick, Wally West, Bart Allen, & Max Mercury Lend There Willpower to Hold Off the Multiverse

Hal manages to hold off the outpouring of multiverse villains with a construct as Flash Barry Allen works on shutting down the portal. However, as expected, containing the surge of hundreds, if not thousands, of multiverse villains is harder than it looks, and his construct begins to crack. Knowing it is only a matter of time before the villains break through, Hal urges Barry to hurry up, exclaiming, “I only have so much willpower, man!” Fortunately for the Emerald Knight, more than a few Flashes are willing to lend their own willpower.

Hearing Hal’s warning about the construct, speedsters Jay Garrick, Wally West, Bart Allen, and Max Mercury come to Hal’s aid. Jay responds, “Then let us add ours,” echoing Hal’s earlier ission that he was running out of willpower to hold back the multiverse. The four speedsters place their hands on Green Lantern, lending their willpower to Hal and bolstering his construct to keep the multiverse at bay. This moment is not only epic but also surprising, as 'lending willpower' in such a way has been unheard of until now—making this a remarkable loophole for a Green Lantern finding a way around running out of willpower.

This Willpower Loophole Is Badass, But Does It Make Sense?

The ‘Flash-Booster’ May Have Been More Psychological Than Anything Else

While this Green Lantern/Flash team-up is undeniably badass, the willpower loophole raises significant questions—primarily, how does it work? The idea of others, especially non-Lanterns, lending their willpower to a Green Lantern through touch is virtually unheard of, marking this a recent development in Green Lantern lore that desperately needs clarification from DC. Until now, it was assumed that a ring tapped solely into its wearer's willpower, but the Flashes’ ability to lend their willpower has fundamentally changed this understanding. However, there may be a plausible explanation for how this lending could work.

As most Green Lantern fans know, the effectiveness of a Lantern ring can be influenced by various factors and heavily depends on the strength and clarity of the wearer’s mind. If the wearer is hungry, thirsty, tired, or stressed, both the ring’s power and the bearer’s general willpower weaken. Thus, negative influences diminish the ring's effectiveness, suggesting that positive influences should enhance it. Consequently, the shown by the speedsters may have served more as a psychological boost that helped bolster Hal’s willpower rather than a literal lending of willpower.

This Green Lantern Willpower-Booster Has EPIC Potential

Justice League Unlimited Needs to Further Explore How Team Dynamics Influence the Capability of a Lantern’s Ring

With the recent reunion and expansion of the Justice League—now called Justice League Unlimited—there’s no better time to explore Green Lantern’s ring capabilities in the context of team dynamics. It would be particularly interesting to see a hero who isn’t a Flash lend their willpower. Every DC fan knows that Hal has a special connection with the speedsters of the DC Universe. Hence, if the “lending of willpower” is a psychological placebo effect rather than a literal exchange, then it makes sense that a hero with a lesser bond with Hal wouldn’t be as effective in boosting his willpower. Therefore, such a scenario could help prove or disprove this Green Lantern theory.

Absolute Power #4 is available now from DC Comics!