"This is the story of a couple of Green Lanterns, John Stewart and Hal Jordan. And we have a few other Lanterns peppered in there, but this is really a terrestrial-based TV show which is almost like True Detective, with a couple of Green Lanterns who are space cops watching over precinct Earth. In it, they discover a terrifying mystery that ties into our larger story of the DCU."
That's how DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn sold Lanterns when the DCU's "Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters" was announced at the start of 2023. It's normal for a movie or TV show to change through the development process, of course, but the version of this series that recently wrapped up on HBO has little to nothing in common with this ambitious pitch from the Superman director.
There was no terrifying mystery, and nothing that obviously tied into the wider DCU...unless the plan is for Noah to be the franchise's big bad in an eventual Justice League movie. Somehow, we doubt it.
Crucially, while Lanterns did take its cues from True Detective, Hal Jordan and John Stewart were not "space cops watching over precinct Earth." It seems Gunn's idea was to have the two veteran members of the Green Lantern Corps come to Earth to investigate a murder together, with "a few other Lanterns peppered in."
Lanterns doesn't feature appearances from any other member of the Corps (well, outside of an emasculated Guy Gardner), and beyond Sinestro, there aren't even any aliens in the show who look remotely different from regular humans.
Gunn has lied before—look at his review of The Flash, "one of the greatest movies ever made"—but it's hard not to wonder whether HBO's influence derailed what was meant to be the take on Green Lantern fans were hoping for.
Perhaps Gunn was swayed by the creative team he enlisted (Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King) to transform Lanterns from the series he envisioned nearly four years ago into a show heavy on identity politics that, for some reason, tore Hal down just to build John up. At the very least, we'd like to think he's learned something about hiring people who appear to hate the comics these stories are based on.
Interestingly, it wasn't that long ago Gunn said key ideas from Peacemaker Season 2 like Checkmate and Salvation were "very connected" to Lanterns. That leaves us to conclude he's either deluded, a complete bullsh*tter, or unable to follow through on his word upon realising that creating a shared world isn't as easy as Kevin Feige makes it look.
Lanterns follows new recruit John Stewart and Lantern legend Hal Jordan, two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.
Alongside Kyle Chander and Aaron Pierre, Kelly Macdonald, Garret Dillahunt, Poorna Jagannathan, Nicole Ari Parker, Jason Ritter, J. Alphonse Nicholson, and Jasmine Cephas Jones round out the cast.
Lanterns is now streaming in its entirety on HBO Max.