Cameras are currently rolling on Lanterns, and Slow Horses' James Hawes has been tapped to helm the first two episodes.
Those will set the tone for Green Lantern's corner of the DCU, and thanks to Ryan Reynolds frequently reminding people how bad the 2011 movie was, they'll also be vital in convincing people to give the Corps another chance.
Hawes has an impressive list of credits to his name; as well as directing the Rami Malek-led The Amateur, he's previously worked on shows like Snowpiercer, The Alienist, Black Mirror, and Raised by Wolves.
Discussing his vision for Lanterns with Collider, Hawes said, "There is a very particular humor that they brought to this. It's very rooted in a way that I like to think we achieve with Slow Horses, that I achieve with things like my Black Mirror's, and yet there is a rich vein of humor running through it."
"So, again, it was about that tone. I'm such a huge fan of Damon [Lindelof] and Chris [Mundy] and the writing that they've done in the past...it all starts from the script. When you turn those pages, can you get the smell of it?"
"You always find a scene or two that you think, 'I can't wait to be stood beside the camera and the cast, directing this scene on the day,'" he continued. "If that happens on turning the pages, you know this is something you have to take seriously, and that absolutely happened with Lanterns."
"To some extent, it's a swerve. Superheroes are not somewhere I've really played before, but it's created in such a way—and I can't tell you much—that it bewitched me," Hawes added. "It doesn't lack its sci-fi magic, but it's done in a world where you accept that these things just are."
"They don't need that extra sprinkle of sci-fi fairy dust. It works within a physical world that we've come to know."
It's hard to fault anything he's saying here, and while he couldn't get into specifics, Hawes described the cast as "electric" and shared plenty of praise for Lanterns' Hal Jordan and John Stewart, Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre.
"I'm going to use slightly strange words, but the first word that came to mind was 'authenticity.' The next word is 'charm,'" he said of the show's co-stars. "These are two people you just want to hang out with. There's just no doubt. You want to hang with them. You want to go on that journey. Add to that Kelly Macdonald, who I've worked with before on Black Mirror."
"You get people who are just so classy and so busy inhabiting their roles, so you never doubt it," Hawes concluded. "They're not on the outside—they’re deep in those skins."
We'll get a better idea of what to expect from the DCU's take on the Green Lantern Corps when Superman is released this summer. Nathan Fillion plays Guy Gardner in the movie and is expected to make a cameo appearance in Lanterns.
The series being set primarily on Earth has raised eyebrows and led to concerns about it featuring relatively little in the way of Green Lantern action. Hopefully, Hawes' comments will go some way in easing those worries.
DC Studios' 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.
Chris Mundy (True Detective: Night Country) is serving as showrunner and executive producer and will write Lanterns with Damon Lindelof (Watchmen) and comic book scribe Tom King (Supergirl). The cast includes Aaron Pierre as John Stewart, Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan, and Ulrich Thomsen as Sinestro.
Kelly Macdonald, Garret Dillahunt, Poorna Jagannathan, Nicole Ari Parker, Jason Ritter, J. Alphonse Nicholson, and Jasmine Cephas Jones round out the supporting cast.
Lanterns is set to premiere on HBO and Max in 2026.