It appears costumed action in DC Studios' Lanterns will be fairly minimal. That made it all the more rewarding on Sunday night to see Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan don his costume for a trip into the cosmos and a reunion with his former mentor, Sinestro.
As for Hal's mask, we're not expecting to see Chandler wear it outside of archival images like the one featured in the promo for next Sunday's third chapter. Remember, he revealed his identity to the world in 1996, meaning the world has known he's Green Lantern for decades.
Short of flashbacks, we wouldn't bet on seeing Hal with his mask on, but DC Comics artist Lucas Meyer (Superman Unlimited) has revealed his unofficial take on what a Hal in his prime would look like.
The piece is inspired by a cover illustrated by Alex Ross for Geoff Johns' critically acclaimed Green Lantern run. It's hard not to be a little sad looking at this, as it reminds us what could have been with a version of Lanterns where Hal was in his prime as a superhero.
Of course, the good news for Justice League Unlimited fans is that John Stewart will be the DCU's main Green Lantern.
During a recent interview with SYFY Wire, Lanterns costume designer Cynthia Ann Summers said the reason for a practical suit over one created by the Green Lantern Corps ring is "because our show is so grounded and it's this noir world we're living in, the suit needed to fit within our world."
She continued, "We had a whole color chart of greens. All the gradations from the darkest green, all the way to the lightest green. Once we started shooting the show, we were able to get the right color of green for the green to show up, but not too electric and too bright or too light or too lime, so it didn't look like it was shouting at us."
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.
The first two episodes of Lanterns are now streaming on HBO Max.