The new live action DC series Lanterns has premiered on HBO, starring Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre as Green Lantern Corps detectives investigating a murder.
Created by showrunners Chris Mundy and Damon Lindelof, the eight episode drama grounds the comic book franchise in a small town homicide mystery before expanding into cosmic sci fi.
The series abandons space grandiosity from the start to frame itself as a detective thriller. Veteran Green Lantern Corps agent Hal Jordan, played by Kyle Chandler, teams up with newly recruited officer John Stewart, played by Aaron Pierre. The two intergalactic law enforcers travel to a small town in the heart of the United States to investigate a murder that quickly drags them into a broader conspiracy.
The project relies heavily on the chemistry of its lead duo, which serves as one of its strongest elements. Chandler delivers a hilarious and charismatic performance as Jordan, while Pierre offers a restrained and serious counterpoint as his younger partner and trainee. Chandler and Pierre cited the classic comedy duo Abbott and Costello as an inspiration for their character dynamic, a comparison that critics note fits their onscreen interplay. Although Chandler's energetic presence occasionally overshadows his co-star, their relationship evolves with notable skill.
Their investigation brings them into friction with local residents in a closed community hiding secrets. Kelly Macdonald plays Sheriff Kerry, who remains suspicious of the two Lanterns and resents their intrusion into local jurisdiction. Garret Dillahunt portrays William Macon, a tough looking cowboy with pronounced conspiracy theorist beliefs, alongside Jason Ritter as his son Billy. Poorna Jagannathan plays the enigmatic Zoe, adding to the town's secretive atmosphere.
In addition to the grounded local cast, several classic comic book characters join the story. Their identities and the actors playing them are kept hidden because the series plays with audience expectations. The narrative includes a deliberate troll style surprise reminiscent of Marvel's WandaVision. Media commentators have frequently compared the project's tone to the crime drama True Detective throughout its development.
Mystery and character development
Co-creators Chris Mundy, previously known for Ozark, and Damon Lindelof, whose writing credits include Lost, The Leftovers, and Watchmen, crafted the script around character relationships. Flashback episodes are integrated with a clear narrative purpose, avoiding generic filler to reinforce the backstories of Jordan and Stewart while deepening the bond between them.
The core mystery provides the structural backbone across eight episodes, each running roughly one hour. Science fiction concepts and superhero elements enter in small, carefully measured doses. Action sequences do not dominate the screen, functioning instead to support the overarching narrative.
However, the narrative loses steam once the central murder mystery resolves and cosmic elements take priority. Lanterns struggles to recover after reaching an early climax in its fifth episode. A latent feeling of an inflated runtime becomes obvious in later chapters as the show adopts standard superhero genre conventions.
The Green Lantern screen history
The character of Hal Jordan was created for DC Comics in 1959 by writer John Broome and artist Gil Kane. In comic lore, Jordan belongs to the Green Lantern Corps, an intergalactic police force whose members protect assigned sectors of the universe using power rings fueled by willpower.
Warner Bros previously brought the hero to theaters in the 2011 movie Green Lantern, directed by Martin Campbell and starring Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds. That production cost approximately $200 million to make but grossed barely $237 million worldwide, a figure far below expectations for a major blockbuster. Critics heavily panned the film for a weak script, an erratic tone, excessive exposition, and unconvincing digital effects.
The box office disappointment left the character in an extended screen limbo. Reynolds famously poked fun at the failure in the 2018 movie Deadpool 2, directed by David Leitch, featuring a post-credits scene where his character time-travels to shoot Reynolds before he can accept the script. Warner Bros canceled plans for sequels starring Reynolds, while subsequent projects, including a Green Lantern Corps feature film in the previous DC universe and a 2019 HBO Max series developed by Greg Berlanti, were both abandoned.
A new era for DC Studios
More than a decade after the 2011 film, an executive transition at DC Studios created a fresh opportunity. Co-chairmen James Gunn and Peter Safran reclaimed the Green Lanterns as a vital component of their rebooted DC Universe, centering the new project on Hal Jordan and John Stewart. The series follows previous DC Studios releases, including last year's Superman feature film and the HBO series Peacemaker.
The debut of Lanterns arrives at a time when rival Marvel Studios has slowed its television output, putting titles like Nova and Strange Academy on hold while canceling Wonder Man. Although Lanterns suffers from a stretched narrative in its final episodes, the series successfully re-establishes the franchise without leaving its leads with reasons to regret taking their roles.
