In last night's episode of Lanterns—you can read our recap here—Sheriff Kerry Kane told Hal Jordan that she isn't a Rushville, Nebraska native. She moved to the small town from Gotham City, and while Kerry keeps her past under wraps, this may link her to Batman.
After all, if she used to be in the GCPD, then there's a chance the Sheriff once crossed paths with the Dark Knight; assuming he was active before 2016, of course. However, Kerry's name now proves particularly interesting, as "Kane" was Martha's maiden name before she married Bruce Wayne's father, Thomas. Bruce's cousin, Kate, would go on to become Batwoman.
Whether she's a member of the historic Kane family remains to be seen. In an interview with Radio Times, actress Kelly Macdonald said it was ultimately "quite thrilling" to be linked with an iconic DC Comics location.
"I wasn't a comic book girl [growing up], so I wasn't au fait with all of that, but Gotham is an iconic place," she said. "I had discussions before we started shooting with James Hawes, the first block director, when we were talking about the fact that she was from Gotham and accent-wise where to place her."
"He said he wanted Kerry to be a bit more enigmatic," Macdonald continued. "We imagine Gotham as an East Coast, North American metropolis, but she's been in Nebraska for a while, [so] just a little bit more enigmatic. But it was very difficult when I was watching [The Penguin] not to just want to emulate the voices I was hearing on that."
The episode ends with Hal blasting into the cosmos and seeking out help from an imprisoned Sinestro. The hero wants to know more about the Manhunters, and on Lanterns: The Official Podcast, showrunner Chris Mundy said that bringing the villain into the series was all about exploring the "coaching tree" of Abin Sur training Sinestro, Sinestro training Hal, and Hal training John Stewart.
"Sinestro can talk to Hal in a way... He's not talking just as the bad guy of the lore, of course, or the canon. He's talking as, 'Hey, look, I trained you. We are close,'" Mundy shared. "I think there's part of Hal that's gonna listen because, even though he's manipulative, even though he's, you know, the big bad of canon, a lot of what he knows comes from Sinestro."
"If we were gonna get into John and Hal's relationship, then we ought to at least touch on Hal's relationship with Sinestro and the fear the Guardians have about that relationship that we start to get into a little bit, you know, as we move down the road in the series," he teased. "We'd held off on a lot of the more comic book stuff. It felt like a good time to remind people that we understand the show we're making."
So, it sounds like we can expect the Guardians of the Universe to intervene as Hal gets closer to his former mentor. That sounds like a compelling dynamic, though it seems we shouldn't take Sinestro's warning about John too much to heart.
Lanterns co-executive producer Vanessa Baden Kelly added that Sinestro was conceived as "somebody who is slippery," and "whether he believes that John is the bigger threat or not, he knows that that's gonna keep Hal talking."
"He can learn a little bit more information and kind of start trying to gather some ways to maybe get some help from Hal," she added. "Sinestro choosing his words carefully is also us saying, 'This guy is somebody you should watch out for in the series.'"
Ulrich Thomsen is 62, so like Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan, it's unclear whether there are long-term plans for him in the DCU. Still, it certainly feels like Lanterns is setting the stage to do more with Sinestro and potentially pit John Stewart against the Sinestro Corps in Season 2.
That may be wishful thinking given the grounded nature of the DC Studios series. Still, it has been said that, if a second season becomes a reality, it will further embrace the intergalactic nature of the Green Lantern Corps.
You can hear more from Lanterns' creative team in the player below.