In January, while laying out plans for the future of the DC Universe (DCU), James Gunn confirmed that Green Lantern will be a part of that future. While Green Lantern is a highly popular and recognizable character from DC Comics, he doesn’t have much onscreen history. In 2011, Warner Bros. released the now-infamous Green Lantern starring Ryan Reynolds. After getting slammed by critics and flopping at the box office, Warner Bros. scrubbed Green Lantern from future plans.
Warner Bros. subsequently launched the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) with Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel and scrapped its plans for a Green Lantern sequel. However, Snyder almost debuted the character in his director’s cut of Justice League. Wayne T. Carr was initially cast in the film as the Jon Stewart iteration of Green Lantern. The scene was cut, though, at the request of Warner Bros., which claimed they had other plans for the character. Meanwhile, a Green Lantern series was rumored to be in development at HBO Max back in 2019.
At one point, the series was slated to feature Guy Gardner (Finn Wittrock) and Alan Scott (Jeremy Irvine). However, these plans were confirmed to have been scrapped in 2022, with reports that the project was being redeveloped. Gunn’s announcement seems to suggest that the project was scrapped in favor of a new TV series. That series will be titled Lanterns, and is set to feature multiple characters who have taken up the Green Lantern mantle. Here’s everything we know about Lanterns so far.
Does Lanterns have a release date?
Lanterns has not received an official release date yet. It is expected to premiere sometime after Superman: Legacy, which is slated for release on June 11, 2025. Since TV shows are known to come together more quickly than films, hopefully Lanterns won’t be too far out from 2025.
What is Lanterns about?
The exact details of Lanterns‘ plot have not been revealed. However, Gunn did briefly summarize the premise of the show, and it sounds quite interesting. Instead of focusing on just one Green Lantern, the show will feature multiple iterations of the character. This makes sense, considering that many characters become Lanterns in the comic books. Gunn also revealed that the show will be a detective story in the vein of True Detective. Speaking with DC.com, Gunn stated:
Our next project is another television series. We call it Lanterns and it is starring two of our favorite Green Lanterns—Hal Jordan and John Stewart. It’s going to be with HBO Max, as all of our series are that we’re going to talk about today. It’s more of a True Detective-type mystery with our two Lanterns. A terrestrial-based mystery that leads into the overall story that we’re telling throughout the different movies and television shows. We find this ancient horror on Earth, and these guys are basically supercops on ‘Precinct Earth.’
If Lanterns does follow the style of True Detective, viewers can probably expect a neo-noir detective story mixed in with superhero tropes and aliens. It also seems that Lanterns will affect the DCU as a whole, perhaps featuring an extraterrestrial monster that ties into the first phase of DC projects, which they’re calling Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters.
Which Green Lantern characters will appear in the series?
Gunn confirmed that the show will primarily focus on two main Green Lanterns—the Hal Jordan and John Stewart iterations. Given how far out the series is, casting likely won’t be revealed for a while. Hopefully, they’ll give Carr another crack at playing the hero. While Jordan and Stewart are two confirmed iterations of the character set to appear in the series, Gunn teased that other versions will pop up as well. Hence, it wouldn’t be surprising if some other particularly popular iterations appeared, such as Guy Gardner, Alan Scott, Kyle Raynor, Simon Baz, or Jessica Cruz.
(featured image: DC Comics)
