Lanterns (TV series)

• 1. Introduction

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  Lanterns, an HBO series about the Green Lantern characters, drew a surprised reaction in February 2025 when its first promotional image appeared. Germain Lussier of Gizmodo summed up what he saw as "Two dudes, standing on the street, looking like hell. And almost no green at all." The franchise is built on intergalactic peacekeepers who wear rings that grant extraordinary powers. Yet here were its two leads in ordinary civilian clothes.

  Why would a studio introduce a space-faring superhero series this way? The answer begins years before that image, with a very different plan for Green Lantern on television. It runs through a corporate merger, a new leadership team, and three writers who wanted a crime story set on Earth. It also runs through a casting hunt that considered some famous names before settling on two leads. This documentary follows that path to a series whose own makers say it is grounded, human, and still steeped in comic book lore.

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• 2. Berlanti's Space Opera

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  In October 2019, Greg Berlanti announced he was developing a Green Lantern series for the streaming service HBO Max. Berlanti had produced many DC Comics television series and had co-written the 2011 Green Lantern film. By January 2020 he described a show spanning several decades, with two stories about Lanterns on Earth and a third about the villain Sinestro in space. That October, HBO Max ordered a ten-episode season.

  Marc Guggenheim, who also co-wrote the 2011 film, and Seth Grahame-Smith were named as writers. Grahame-Smith was to serve as showrunner. The series could not use the best-known comic book Lanterns, Hal Jordan and John Stewart, because those characters were being held back for planned DC Extended Universe films. Instead it would draw on others from the comics, including Guy Gardner, Jessica Cruz, Simon Baz, Alan Scott and Kilowog, along with new Lanterns invented for the show.

  In April 2021, the plan sharpened. The story would centre on Alan Scott, a secretly gay FBI agent in 1941 who becomes Earth's first Green Lantern. It would also follow Guy Gardner, described as an embodiment of 1980s hyper-patriotism, alongside the half-alien Bree Jarta in 1984. Finn Wittrock was cast as Gardner after Berlanti got permission from producer Ryan Murphy for the actor to put Green Lantern ahead of a planned second season of Murphy's Netflix series Ratched. Jeremy Irvine was cast as Scott, and Lee Toland Krieger was hired to direct the first two episodes.

  The project was said to be the most expensive of Berlanti's career. Geoff Johns, Sarah Schechter, David Madden and David Katzenberg joined Berlanti, Grahame-Smith and Guggenheim as executive producers. Pornsak Pichetshote, a former editor at DC's Vertigo imprint, joined the writers' room. In August 2021, Wittrock said cameras would roll at the end of the year or in early 2022.

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• 3. A Studio Starts Over

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  In April 2022, Discovery, Inc. merged with WarnerMedia, Warner Bros.' parent company, to form Warner Bros. Discovery. Its CEO, David Zaslav, was expected to restructure DC Entertainment. He began looking for someone who could do for DC what Kevin Feige did as president of Marvel Studios.

  The Green Lantern show stalled. In June 2022, Jeremy Irvine said there was no start date and that the production was working on getting all the stars to align. A month later the series was reaffirmed, even as the new company cancelled other HBO Max and DC projects. In October 2022, Grahame-Smith was revealed to have left, and the series was being redeveloped around John Stewart.

  At the end of that month, James Gunn and Peter Safran were announced as co-chairs and co-CEOs of the newly formed DC Studios. Within a week of starting, they had begun working on an eight-to-ten-year plan for a new DC Universe. It was described as a soft reboot of the earlier film continuity. On the 31st of January 2023, they unveiled the first projects on their slate, which opened with Chapter One: Gods and Monsters.

  Lanterns was the third television series on that list. Safran said it would use the two best-known Lanterns, Hal Jordan and John Stewart. He called it an Earth-based detective story rather than the space opera Berlanti had imagined. He promised an HBO-quality event in the manner of the crime drama True Detective and the spy thriller Slow Horses. The mystery the two heroes investigate was meant to feed into the main storyline of the new universe.

  In January 2024, Damon Lindelof was already consulting as a producer, and the series was described as a priority for the streaming service Max. A month later, Chris Mundy was reported as showrunner, with Tom King attached as a producer. King had originally pitched the concept. Gunn hired Mundy for his work on the crime drama Ozark and on the fourth season of True Detective. Mundy and King then brought in Lindelof, creator of the DC-based limited series Watchmen, who said yes out of love for Ozark and for King's comic books. All three are credited as creators.

  In June 2024, HBO gave the show a straight-to-series order of eight episodes. Warner Bros. Discovery had decided to turn many of its planned big-budget Max series into HBO originals. The show was still expected to stream on Max as well. For directors, DC Studios met with Stephen Williams, who had worked with Lindelof on Watchmen. In October 2024, the studio hired James Hawes, director of the first season of Slow Horses, to direct the first two episodes and serve as an executive producer.

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• 4. Two Timelines in Nebraska

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  The central crime takes place in Rushville, Nebraska. Hal Jordan, an experienced Lantern, and John Stewart, a new recruit, investigate a murder there. Jordan believes it is an extraterrestrial incident, and the case leads to darker mysteries and reckonings. The story is told across two periods. One is set in 2016 and the other, connected to the murder, in 2026. The series is set mostly in Sheridan County, Nebraska, with some scenes in Iowa.

  By the end of May 2024, Mundy, King and Lindelof had written the pilot script and a series bible, and a full writers' room was being assembled. Justin Britt-Gibson, Breannah Gibson and Vanessa Baden joined as writers. Britt-Gibson had previously worked with Lindelof on the script for an untitled Star Wars film. The writers stayed on set to answer questions about comic book history. They told the actors to build a rounded understanding of Jordan and Stewart rather than studying comics from one era. Writing was finished by the time filming began in February 2025.

  Mundy compared the structure to the first season of True Detective, which he saw as an emotional mystery. In that view, the point is less who did it than why it happened. He likened the bond between Jordan and Stewart to the one between the True Detective characters Rust Cohle and Marty Hart. He stressed the buddy cop elements and said the two men act as opposing forces.

  The series adapts no specific comic storyline, though Mundy called it steeped in Green Lantern lore. The power rings and the abilities they grant are central, and other pieces of the mythology are seen or referenced. Mundy described the aim as "something really grounded inside this big, amazing mythology. From the beginning, all we talked about was, how can we take all the things we loved about the source material and turn it into a layered, human HBO drama?" He wanted newcomers to be able to follow it and longtime readers to be satisfied.

  Gunn wanted a different tone from Superman, the first film of the new universe, which also features a Green Lantern in Guy Gardner. Mundy called Gardner fabulously obnoxious and said he would appear at a few different times. The events of Superman fall between the series' two settings. Gunn also said the show would use the interdimensional prison Salvation and the organization Checkmate, both introduced in "Full Nelson," the second season finale of Peacemaker, and would be really important in setting up what comes next.

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• 5. Finding the Leads

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  In December 2022, Gunn said Ryan Reynolds would not return as Hal Jordan from the 2011 film. By September 2024, Nathan Fillion, cast as Guy Gardner for Superman in July 2023, was expected to co-star. Josh Brolin was then reported to have been offered the role of Jordan at the end of August. He was looking for a new television part after his series Outer Range was cancelled, and he had played Jonah Hex in a 2010 film.

  The studio pictured Jordan as a gruff, older partner in the mould of Danny Glover's Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon films. For Stewart, it wanted a younger, fresh-faced Black actor in his 20s. Matthew McConaughey and Ewan McGregor were also considered for Jordan in case a Brolin deal fell through. Brolin passed soon after the reports, saying it did not work out.

  By the end of September, Kyle Chandler was in negotiations. Aaron Pierre and Stephan James were in the mix for Stewart. Gunn had nearly cast Pierre as Adam Warlock in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and Pierre had played Dev-Em in the series Krypton. Damson Idris was also shortlisted until a scheduling conflict arose. Screen tests with Chandler took place in early October. On the 9th of October, Pierre was cast as Stewart and Chandler was confirmed as Jordan. Kelly Macdonald joined as Sheriff Kerry at the end of the month.

  Chandler's Jordan is a former test pilot and legendary Corps member nearing retirement, who is filling in to train Stewart. The writers drew on Sam Shepard's performance as Chuck Yeager in the 1983 film The Right Stuff. Mundy said Chandler had those same qualities, plus a dry wit he considered essential.

  Pierre's Stewart is a recruit Jordan is training as his own replacement. He is considered an anomaly, being the first Lantern in the Corps' history recruited by the Guardians of the Universe rather than chosen by a ring. Mundy said the character was both a Marine and an artistic architect. He called Pierre a serious theater actor who also looks built in a lab to be an action star. Hawes praised Pierre's presence as forceful, cool and understated.

  Macdonald's Kerry is a sheriff devoted to her family and her close-knit town. She turns territorial when the big-shot Lanterns arrive, and she is a love interest for Jordan. Fillion's Gardner is abrasive, and Fillion called him the last Lantern you would want in an emergency. He said the character is a little more high-strung than in Superman.

  Garret Dillahunt plays William Macon, a modern cowboy who hides a conspiracy-minded streak behind charm. Jason Ritter plays his son Billy, Kerry's husband. Poorna Jagannathan plays Zoe, a potential love interest for Stewart. Ulrich Thomsen plays Thaal Sinestro, Jordan's former mentor, who went rogue after the yellow energy of fear consumed him. Nicole Ari Parker plays Stewart's mother, Bernadette, with Jasmine Cephas Jones as her younger self. Sherman Augustus plays his father, John Sr., with J. Alphonse Nicholson as his younger self. Paul Ben-Victor plays Antaan, an extraterrestrial devoted to exposing the truth and exacting vengeance for his people.

  Chris Coy plays a nervous truck driver known as Waylon Sanders, whose real name is unknown. Cary Christopher plays a gifted small-town child named Noah. Laura Linney and Paula Patton also joined in undisclosed roles, with Linney's casting confirmed in May 2026.

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• 6. Costumes and Cameras

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  Costume designer Cynthia Summers and production designer John Paino shaped the look of a show that keeps its heroes out of uniform for long stretches. Jordan wears a dusty leather jacket and has salt-and-pepper hair. Together they echo the older Jordan, with white streaks in his hair, drawn by Pat Broderick in the 1990s Green Lantern comics. When Jordan does put on his Lantern suit, it is a muted, faded green jacket. That contrasts with the bright green-and-black suits usually seen. The design recalls Green Lantern: Earth One, a graphic novel by Gabriel Hardman and Corinna Bechko published from 2018 to 2020, which also took a grounded approach.

  Principal photography began in the week of the 17th of February 2025 in Los Angeles and at Warner Bros. Studios Burbank. The working title was Latitude. Armando Salas and Florian Hoffmeister were the cinematographers. Atlanta, Georgia, had been the expected location from January to June. Gunn and Safran worked with Warner Bros. Discovery to secure the tax credits and studio deals needed to relocate from the city where Gunn shot Superman. Safran said they were thrilled to support local crews after the January 2025 Southern California wildfires.

  Hawes agreed that comparisons to True Detective were fair, given Mundy's writing and the buddy cop structure. He said Lanterns has more humor. He compared its tone to films with Americana heart, such as Fargo from 1996 and No Country for Old Men from 2007. Mundy said Hawes captured the scope he had hoped for in the first two episodes.

  Williams, Geeta Vasant Patel and Alik Sakharov directed further episodes. Four episodes had been filmed by early May 2025, when Hawes wrapped his. Jason Ritter said the story was jumping all around. Filming was more than halfway done by mid-June, and Thomsen's scenes concluded by the end of July. Pierre confirmed the production had wrapped by at least October. He said the filmmakers spent a lot of time on the characters' flaws, and that the characters actively try to redeem themselves.

  Emily E. Greene worked as an editor. In May 2026, Stephanie Economou was revealed as the composer of the score.

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• 7. Trailers and Reactions

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  Other writers weighed in on the February 2025 image after Lussier. Armando Tinoco of Deadline Hollywood said the two leads looked ready for action. Rachel Leishman of The Mary Sue admired both actors and called the picture hot, though she wondered whether Jordan's role would last past one season, since only one power ring was visible. Lussier himself thought the image fit the Earth-based setting and expected more cosmic elements to appear later, given how early filming was.

  A teaser trailer was shown at the HBO Max upfront presentation in São Paulo, Brazil, on the 25th of November 2025. Matthew Aguilar of ComicBook.com liked the room it left for rich dynamics between Jordan and Stewart. First footage reached the public on the 12th of December in an HBO Max sizzle reel for its 2026 projects. Marco Vito Oddo of ComicBook.com said it conveyed a friction-heavy partnership with life-and-death stakes from the start.

  The teaser trailer reached the internet on the 4th of March 2026, a day ahead of schedule because it had leaked. Jennifer Ouellette of Ars Technica found it light on plot but tonally unique for the DC Universe, and named the show among her most anticipated of the year. Joe George of Den of Geek said Chandler fully looks the part of the older Jordan from the 1990s comics. He compared Jordan's calm but cocky manner to Mel Gibson's Martin Riggs in Lethal Weapon and to Andy Samberg's Jake Peralta in Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Some commentators noticed the absence of fantastical elements and likened the tone to the film Logan and the series Yellowstone and Reacher.

  The teaser used the Bruce Springsteen song "State Trooper." It was pulled the following month over an expired music license and re-uploaded with a different score. Nick Romano of Entertainment Weekly called this a fairly common practice for licensed tracks. He rejected the idea that the takedown was tied to Lindelof's joke about the lack of green in the marketing.

  A second teaser arrived on the 18th of May 2026. It showed Laura Linney, Thomsen's Sinestro, a discussion of fear tied to the Yellow Lantern Corps, and Jordan in his Lantern suit making green constructs with his ring. None of that had appeared before. George noted that earlier promotion had seemed strangely reluctant to embrace the franchise's science fiction roots, even stripping the color green from the title and marketing. Tom Power of TechRadar read the new footage as a response to criticism. Scott Davis of SciFiNow called it much more impressive than the first.

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• 8. The Calendar and Season Two

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  Lanterns is scheduled to premiere on the 16th of August 2026, airing on HBO and streaming on HBO Max. It will run for eight episodes as part of Chapter One: Gods and Monsters. Getting to that date took several shifts. In November 2024, Gunn said he wanted the series out around the DC film Supergirl, set for June 2026. In February 2025, he and Safran said they could safely promise a premiere in early 2026.

  In October 2025, Aaron Couch and Borys Kit of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Supergirl would be the next DC project after the second season of Peacemaker. They expected Lanterns to follow it. The next month, a Warner Bros. Discovery third quarter shareholder letter reaffirmed an early 2026 debut. At the end of that month, HBO and HBO Max chairman and CEO Casey Bloys instead announced the end of summer 2026. By March 2026, the August date was confirmed.

  The question of a second season has moved too. In February 2025, Safran said the series could continue past its first season. Mundy said it was designed as a complete story that stands apart from other DC Studios projects, but he hoped it could grow to multiple seasons. In May 2026, journalist Jeff Sneider reported that HBO was preparing a second season, with the green light depending on how the first season's ratings performed.

  Sneider added that Christopher Cantwell, a television and comic book writer, had been hired as writer and executive producer for that possible season. Mundy would return as showrunner, while Lindelof and King focused on other commitments. Cantwell confirmed his involvement the following day.

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