When HBO and DC Studios were casting Lanterns, Avengers: Infinity War star Josh Brolin was said to be in the mix to play the DCU's Hal Jordan. The news generated excitement among fans, but we quickly learned that he'd passed on the role.
DC Studios has struggled to attract A-list talent since launching at the start of 2023, though everyone has praised Kyle Chandler's take on Hal. While the show's take on the character has divided opinions, Chandler's performance has won over even the biggest sceptics.
During a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter for Whalefall, Brolin was asked about the cancellation of Outer Range, and he described the decision as "heartbreaking." With that in mind, the trade wondered whether the fear of another potentially abrupt end to a series he'd be starring in ultimately put him off saying yes to Lanterns.
"No, it was just one of those things. Lanterns, I love those actors, and I’ve seen it. I hope that it’s killing it," Brolin said. "If I decide not to do something, I never really think, 'Oh, had I done it, it could have been better.' Birdman was that way when I saw what Edward Norton did with it. I was like, That’s excellent. It’s not necessarily what would’ve transpired had I done it, but there’s no comparison."
"Matt Damon was supposed to do Milk before me, and because it pushed, he had to go do something else that he was required to do. So I went in there and did my version of that."
"But Lanterns, I don’t know, maybe it was too close [to Outer Range]. I really loved Outer Range, and seeing what those actors — Tom Pelphrey, Lewis Pullman, Imogen Poots — have done since then makes me very happy," he continued. "To me, it’s a great middle finger to those people who canceled that show. It’s like, 'You had gold.' So that’s how I perceive it."
So, it seems the similarities between Lanterns and Outer Range, another science fiction neo-Western, were ultimately the deciding factor for Brolin. It's easy enough to understand why, as an actor, he didn't want to repeat himself by playing this very specific version of Hal.
Despite the vocal backlash from fans about Hal's death, it doesn't seem likely that he'll be resurrected (beyond maybe a flashback in a possible Lanterns Season 2). After all, James Gunn has repeatedly said dead means dead in the DCU.
"Lanterns' leads shine bright," we wrote in our Season 1 review, "but even they can't save this abysmal adaptation of the comics that, embarrassed by the source material it's based on, delivers a woefully bland and uninspired take on Green Lantern that's another miss for the DCU."
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.