Most reviews have praised Lanterns and, according to HBO, the premiere delivered strong viewership numbers. While Season 2 hasn't been officially greenlit, writers have started meeting to plot out where the story could go next.
The reaction from fans to Lanterns has been a little more mixed. While the show isn't quite at the halfway point, there have been complaints about Hal Jordan's apparent death, big changes to the lore, and a unique approach to John Stewart's origin story.
The show's creatives haven't necessarily helped matters, whether it's Damon Lindelof calling the "Green" in Green Lantern "stupid" or the host of DC Studios' official podcast branding Hal Jordan a racist.
Now, Lanterns writer and co-executive producer Vanessa Baden Kelly has made a startling admission in an interview with Collider.
"I'll start by saying that by having Tom King and Damon Lindelof in the room, with Tom King offering so many Green Lantern books, those conversations are really robust because many of us were more casual Green Lantern fans," she told the site. "Some didn't know anything about Green Lantern."
As a result, it was down to King to tell them things like, "Oh, no, that doesn't change. That is who John Stewart is," and "It's just not going to happen. Sorry, that's never going to work." For Kelly, that was key in making sure they were "respectful to the canon while simultaneously being a fresh take and a more human, grounded version of who this character is."
The conversation took a bit of a peculiar turn when Kelly explained why the Green Lantern Corps ring—which chose John Stewart Sr. before seemingly settling for Hal—didn't pick Bernadette Stewart.
"The thing that I would always say in the room is that if the ring wasn't sexist, Bernadette would have been chosen, because she really is just the most fearless of everybody," she revealed. "For me personally, as a writer, and I feel like most of the writers’ room would probably agree, this idea of willpower and overcoming fear is so different depending on where you stand."
Kelly continued, "So, what Bernadette was pointing out to them is, 'You guys don't take any care in learning the differences of the people that you're asking for this. So, yes, you got a shit face for this job, and it's clear you don't like him, but here's why you don't like who you got — because you're actually not picking the bravest people. You're picking the people dumb enough to not be scared.'"
While it's possible that Kelly's comments about the ring being sexist were made in jest, these remarks have already gained traction on social media as an example of the apparent disdain DC Studios has for Hal Jordan.
With five more episodes left, it's too soon to make any sort of conclusion about that, especially as we still don't know how this story ends. However, if Lanterns doesn't stick the landing, then it will come as another blow to the still-young DCU.
The first three episodes of Lanterns are now streaming on HBO Max.