'Lanterns' Creators Tout Grounded Green Lantern Reboot
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- "Lanterns" co-creators Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof and Tom King describe the HBO Max series as a deliberate return to the character's original comic iteration, positioning it as an alternative to the 2011 Ryan Reynolds film that received poor reviews.
- Kyle Chandler stars as veteran Green Lantern Hal Jordan, an intergalactic space officer forced to mentor Aaron Pierre as John Stewart after a series of unexplainable deaths draws the pair to a small town in Nebraska.
- Lindelof's "Watchmen" HBO series is cited by the creative team as the template for blending comic book storytelling with grounded themes of race, colonization and justice — Mundy called it 'a real touchstone of how you do a show and have it be emotional and about real people.'
- Poorna Jagannathan, who plays Zoe, said she initially hesitated to join because she didn't read comics and 'felt like I didn't belong,' but now believes 'Lanterns' will serve as 'a blueprint' for how to adapt big genre properties with emotional stakes.
- The show premieres Sunday, Aug. 16 on HBO Max as part of the expanded DC Universe under James Gunn and Peter Safran, with Lindelof noting the team has 'artistic freedom' to tell the story within storyline bounds set by the DCU architects.
- Nathan Fillion's Guy Gardner — who also appears in 'Superman' and 'Peacemaker' — returns in the show, and Lindelof acknowledged that audience reception will determine whether early Season 2 conversations turn into an official renewal.
Why it matters: The 'Lanterns' team is explicitly pitching the show as a template, not just a title — Jagannathan called it a 'blueprint' for the whole genre, and Lindelof tied Season 2 to audience reception. Coming on the heels of 'Supergirl's underwhelming reception, the series is a live test of whether the Gunn-Safran DCU can sell a grounded superhero drama after big-budget entries have split fans.
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