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Oct 30 - Nov 1, 2026
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Hot off the heels of Supergirl, next up for James Gunn’s DC Universe is Lanterns, an eight-episode series created by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof and Tom King, coming to HBO Max next week. Based on DC’s Green Lantern stable of characters, the show promises a grounded take on the space-faring heroes, with Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre as Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and John Stewart respectively.
With the show’s debut imminent, and with a fresh new trailer recently released at San Diego Comic-Con, we thought it would be fun to speculate what we can expect from the series. To help us out with some valuable insight, we spoke to bona fide Green Lantern expert Dr. Darran Jordan.
In addition to sharing a surname with the most famous Green Lantern, Darran has been an avid GL reader since 1989, and has literally written the book on the Green Lantern mythology. Two books, in fact: Green Lantern Chronology and Green Lantern History: An Unauthorised Guide to the DC Comic Book Series Green Lantern. So, if anyone is qualified to offer some insight into what the upcoming Lanterns series might have in store, it’s him.
With that in mind, it bodes well that Darran seems pretty pleased with how the Green Lanterns have been handled in the DCU so far, giving his blessing to Nathan Fillion’s portrayal of Guy Gardner in Superman and Peacemaker.
“Yeah, pitch perfect Guy really,” he says. “He’s had a few incarnations in the comics, from the outright obnoxious to the misunderstood warrior. I think Nathan Fillion has captured the essence of all the things I love about Guy – the attitude, the machismo but also the care for others deep under it all. I loved him creating all the middle finger projections to destroy tanks with in the Superman movie.”
As for our two new Lanterns, Darran thinks the “cast looks fantastic”. While he says that he really likes Chandler’s portrayal of Hal in the trailer, he offers particular praise for Pierre. “I saw Aaron Pierre in Rebel Ridge and was blown away,” he enthuses, “so I was literally doing handstands when they announced he’d be playing John Stewart. I think he’s really going to nail it.”
When asked his initial thoughts on Lanterns as a whole based on the trailers, he was again excited and optimistic, saying, “I think it looks fantastic. It looks like they’re delving deep into the lore with appearances from Sinestro and the Manhunters.”
Yes, while the early marketing for the show presented a grounded and gritty take on the cosmic heroes – more dusty neo-western crime drama than superhero space opera – the latest trailer offers some more recognisable Green Lantern imagery.
As mentioned above, the likes of the Manhunters and Sinestro make an appearance, along with Hal’s costume, more energy constructs and most excitingly, the legendary Green Lantern oath.
Darran was pleased by these inclusions, while also being excited by the prospect of seeing Fillion’s Guy Gardner joining Hal and John in the series. “I also like that it balances a grounded Earth based story with outer space adventure,” he adds, “I think it’s the mix of those elements that has always made Green Lantern really interesting and unique.”
Speaking further to that grounded tone, Darran points out that this has been more of a feature of Green Lantern comics than people might realise. “I do find it interesting that, somewhat in spite of the space opera nature of the majority of Green Lantern stories, some of the most iconic and beloved tales from the comic book series have actually been grounded, earth bound tales (although often with a bit of sci-fi mixed in, as there appears to be in the Lanterns trailers as well).”
In fact, Darran mentions two particular eras of the Green Lantern canon that the Lanterns trailers bring to mind. “When watching the trailers I was immediately reminded of the Hard Travelling Heroes stories of the 1970s featuring Oliver Queen’s Green Arrow alongside Hal Jordan’s Green Lantern,” he said.
This period of the Green Lantern book saw Green Arrow joining as a co-star, with the two ideologically opposed heroes travelling across America to tackle topical social issues of the time, such as racism and drug abuse.
Darran is also reminded of The Road Back from 1990, which saw a middle-aged Hal travelling America to find himself. He finds that version of Hal reflected in what we’ve seen of Kyle Chandler’s portrayal thus far, as “a mid-life Hal staring down the barrel of being replaced by John and not liking the prospect at all. He captures the maverick madman qualities of Hal really well from what I’ve seen in the trailer.”
So, despite what some might think, there is a precedent for this kind of grounded Green Lantern story in the comic book world.
Backtracking to the Manhunters, we asked Darran what he made of the inclusion of the shapeshifting robot army. “I think it suggests the story will explore the origins of the GL Corps,” Darran says, “as the Manhunters effectively were the Guardians’ first attempt at a galactic peace keeping force, until they went bad and started wiping out planets. So the darker origins of the Corps and the Guardians may be a feature as a result. The shapeshifting nature of them isn’t explored as much in the comics, but it was a major feature of a crossover summer blockbuster series called Millennium, where they were the main villains.”
Given that the trailer highlights this shapeshifting nature, it’s not a stretch to assume that the Manhunters will be utilised in a similar manner to the Skrulls in Marvel’s Secret Invasion, creating a ‘Trust no-one’ atmosphere, where anyone could be an imposter.
In fact, Darran directly compares the use of the Manhunters in Millennium, to the Skrulls in Secret Invasion. However, given a similar plot point was used in the first season of Peacemaker, with alien parasites taking control of human hosts, you would think that James Gunn and co. would want to avoid repeating themselves so soon. It could be that this ‘Trust no-one’ approach might not be as prevalent as we might expect.
When it comes to what Darran would personally like to see for the Green Lanterns in this series, and in the DCU going forward, he is full of hope and enthusiasm. “There is so much amazing material to tap into in the comics,” he says, “really I think if they just authentically adapt some of the best stories from the existing canon they’ll have an amazing output for film and television.”
Conversely, when asked about what mistakes he hopes are avoided when adapting these characters, he reaffirmed his approval of what he’s seen so far. “There are all sorts of ways to adapt these characters and I don’t think there’s necessarily a wrong way to do it, but personally I like the look of the grounded direction they are taking. I enjoyed Adam West’s Batman series as a kid, but I much prefer Christopher Nolan’s take on the Dark Knight. Similarly, I may enjoy a campy goofy Green Lantern story, but I’ll be a lot more excited if it’s something truly gripping, believable and relatable, while still retaining its more bizarre sci-fi elements.”
He also offers his wish list for storylines he’d love to see adapted, with the seminal classics Sinestro Corps War and Blackest Night topping the list. “[They] would make for some epic viewing if adapted well.”
In terms of bad guys, Darran has a laundry list of classic GL villains whom he’d love to see make an appearance, including some delightfully obscure ones. “Sinestro is top of the bad guy wish list, so I’m glad he’s already in this,” he says. “I mean, Green Lantern has had some truly weird villains over the years, including Javelin who was memorably killed in The Suicide Squad movie. There are other memorably forgettable ones that’d be fun to see, like the Crumbler, Myrwhydden and the Tatttooed Man. My wish list though… Atrocitus would be amazing and I’ve always liked the split personality angle with villains like Eclipso and Dr Polaris. I really like Fatality too, who was a major villain during Kyle Rayner’s era. I think if you’re talking big guns though, Krona and Nekron would be pretty epic.”
Later in the interview he remembers another “memorably forgettable” villain, Professor Ojo who utilised giant, floating cybernetic eyeballs. Darran says that he loves the insanity of that kind of thing, and given that Gunn seems to share that sentiment, it’s entirely possible that any of those niche enemies could show up in the DCU.
Finally, we asked Darran what he believes are the most important characteristics that need to be maintained in any GL adaptation. “Oh, Green Lantern has so much lore, I think you really just need to focus on the story you’re telling. I always thought the long introduction at the start of the Ryan Reynolds movie was a mistake. That much information – either you’re new to it and it’ll put you off or if you already know all that stuff, you’ll start saying things like ‘what about Star Sapphire and the Zamarons’, you know.
“Just start with someone with a ring that focuses their will into green projections and uses that to fight evil, and the audience will pick it up from there. Geoff Johns always uses the hook that Green Lantern stories should be about overcoming fear, which I think is a great hook and probably the most essential thing you need to adapt it well. But, otherwise, you know, the oath. You’ve gotta have the oath!”
So, there you have it. If one of the world’s foremost Green Lantern experts is excited by what he’s seen of Lanterns so far, then that’s probably a good sign. So let’s charge up our rings and recite the oath as we get ready to bask in Green Lantern’s light once again.
Lanterns begins streaming weekly on HBO Max from Monday the 17th of August.
