If you still haven't watched the series premiere of Lanterns, major spoilers follow.
The rumors were true: Lanterns episode 1, "Pilot," ends with the death of Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler), as John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) and Sheriff Kerry Kane (Kelly Macdonald) discover the hero's frozen body with a bullet in his head in the 2026 timeline.
Is Hal really dead? It's entirely possible (even if he is, the character will still be a major part of the show's 2016 timeline), but a compelling theory that the ring-slinging space cop is still very much alive and has simply faked his own death has arisen from the recent "Weeks Ahead" trailer.
One eagle-eyed fan honed in on a blurry shot of the alien's body Jordan is seen stealing from the morgue, which appears to have a very similar head wound.
"The body Hal drags out from the morgue has a wound on its forehead, exactly where "Hal's" wound is at the end of episode 1," they wrote. "And the skull John picks up also has what looks to be a healed wound in a similar area. Lends me to suspect Hal's still alive, and these are all aliens being murdered."
We'd say there might well be something to this. Co-creator Damon Lindelof even hinted that angry fans may feel differently about Hal's (supposed) death after the season finale.
"I guess our feeling is, let's see how you feel at the end of Episode 8, and if you still feel like it was exploitative or unnecessary, or that it wasn't exactly what had to happen in order for this story to get told, then we deserve it," Lindelof told Collider in a recent interview. "But I think we're willing to absorb the boos from the audience in the first inning, as long as we still have a shot at winning the game."
Of course, if Jordan is alive, it wouldn't explain why his ring has now gone to Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), or why Stewart will evidently take over as Earth's Green Lantern in Man of Tomorrow.
Have a look at the trailer and screenshots below, and let us know what you think in the comments.
Spoilers for Lanterns: Something caught my eye in the new trailer
by u/GenericMelon in DCU_
HBO in association with Warner Bros. Television and DC Studios. The pilot episode is co-written by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King, who are co-creators for the series. Mundy serves as showrunner. The first two episodes are directed by James Hawes, with Stephen Williams, Geeta Vasant Patel, and Alik Sakharov also tapped to direct. The series is executive produced by Mundy, Lindelof, James Gunn, Peter Safran, King, Ron Schmidt, and Hawes. Based on the DC comic characters from Green Lantern.
The series stars Kyle Chandler, Aaron Pierre, Kelly Macdonald, Garret Dillahunt, Poorna Jagannathan, Laura Linney, Jason Ritter, Ulrich Thomsen, Nathan Fillion, J. Alphonse Nicholson, and Jasmine Cephas Jones.
The series follows new recruit John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) and Lantern legend Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler), two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.