Summary
- Lanterns will be a fresh take on Green Lantern, focusing on multiple ring bearers, bridging the gap of previous adaptations.
- Damon Lindelof and Chris Mundy are working on Lanterns, showcasing solid show histories and promising direction for the series.
- Nathan Fillion is set to play Guy Gardner, with the show likely to involve John Stewart and Hal Jordan in a distinctive setup.
With James Gunn having announced that a Green Lantern project is in the works at DC Studios, titled Lanterns, there have only been a few details released about that everyone will want to know. As evident from the title, this planned DC original would delve into the lives and powers of multiple wearers of the Green Lantern ring. Announced as a part of the new roster of the DC’s cinematic universe, Lanterns will be a fresh, new take on the titular comics.
When it comes to DC’s animated projects, the Green Lantern John Stewart has proven to be a significant hero in the DC Animated Universe with Justice League and its sequel series Justice League: Unlimited. This gave way to a short-lived Green Lantern animated series, which put the spotlight on more Lanterns, such as Kilowog and Guy Garner. On the live-action front, the Green Lantern Corps had a tragic fate, with Ryan Reynolds’ 2011’s Green Lantern being one of the worst superhero movies ever made. However, with James Gunn attempting to revamp DC’s films and shows as its new creative head, Lanterns might serve as a breath of fresh air.
Lanterns Latest News
Lanterns’ creative team has gotten some new updates in recent history. Damon Lindelof and Chris Mundy were revealed to have been brought in as writers, with a pilot script and show bible being constructed by them and Tom King, who is a notable DC comics writer. Based on Lindelof and Mundy’s own show histories – as the former worked on Lost and Watchmen, and the latter worked on Ozark – this is a promising revelation for the series, and puts it in some solid hands going forward.
New rumors have also suggested Lanterns may begin filming in 2025, and as such has begun casting in order to assemble its crew beforehand, though none of this is confirmed. If true, it would certainly set up a promising timeline for the series, allowing it the rest of 2024 to get set up for the start of filming.
Lanterns Confirmed
After canceling several DC Extended Universe projects, co-CEOs of DC Studios Peter Safran and James Gunn’s plans are fixing previous franchise problems while starting DC’s cinematic ventures on a new note. Finally, some clarity was offered on January 31, 2023, when Gunn announced 10 new movies and shows, which included Lanterns. Connecting itself with the other new DC movies and shows, Lanterns was confirmed by Gunn as an HBO live-action series that would heavily feature the characters John Stewart and Hal Jordan. The project was announced alongside a lot of other amusing titles, such as a Game of Thrones-style prequel to Wonder Woman and a new Superman movie.
Lanterns Release Date
There is no official release date announced for Lanterns but given the sequence in which Gunn announced DC’s new projects, it seems highly likely for the show to drop anytime after Superman: Legacy which received a hard release date of July 11, 2025. Right after mentioning the new Superman film, Gunn went ahead with talking about Lanterns following which he delved into the antihero ensemble film The Authority (so it is highly likely that Lanterns drops on HBO somewhere between Superman: Legacy and The Authority). Due to the show entering the early stages of production, audiences will have to at least wait for a year and a half more.
Lanterns Cast
The first DCU Green Lantern has been confirmed, as in March 2024 it was revealed that Nathan Fillion would be playing Guy Gardner in a role beginning with 2025’s Superman movie. This sets up the DCU Green Lantern cast nicely as a first move, with Gunn and Fillion’s extensive collaborative history lending itself to a solid first foray into the realms of DC’s Green Lantern lore and characters. Guy Gardner is also one of the most distinctive Green Lanterns in their roster, which makes sure that Lanterns will get a distinctive setup from the first DCU release.
DC Studios has remained tight-lipped about further casting details at the moment. However, it is obvious that the ensemble will be anchored by two leads who would be playing John Stewart and Hal Jordan. Gunn did mention that a few other Green Lanterns would be peppered throughout the series, implying that many other actors might have brief appearances, and that Fillion’s Gardener will likely also appear within the show.
Lanterns Is Different From The HBO Max Show
Before Gunn’s announcement, Greg Berlanti, who had helped conceive many shows the CW’s DC Arrowverse franchise, had expressed his interest on developing a series focusing on the Emerald Knights. Even though this Green Lantern show’s place was uncertain within the DCEU (AKA the Snyderverse), it was first announced in 2019 with even the casting department getting to work. In 2021, Ratched and American Horror Story alumnus Finn Wittrock was slated to join the potential HBO Max original as Guy Gardner while War Horse‘s Jeremy Irvine was to play fellow Green Lantern Alan Scott.
Berlanti’s vision was radically different from Gunn’s subsequent plan as no details around John Stewart and Hal Jordan were in the pipeline back then. In fact, the HBO Max original was to also feature other Green Lanterns, such as Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz. Even though Zack Snyder’s Justice League was to feature Green Lantern (John Stewart), the scene was eventually cut with Martian Manhunter replacing him. Still, it was unclear if Wayne T Carr’s Stewart would appear in the Berlanti series. However, with Gunn redesigning the DC Studios roadmap under a common arc title, Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters, the previous Green Lantern series remains canceled.
Lanterns Story Details
Going by what James Gunn has revealed, the premise of DCU’s new Green Lantern show would go along the lines of a True Detective-style crime thriller with the two Green Lanterns investigating a mystery that would connect the show with the larger story that Gunn’s proposed Gods and Monsters arc would explore. As Gunn referred to it as “a terrestrial-based mystery”, most of the action is to take place on Earth (which is not only John Stewart and Hal Jordan’s native planet but even the Precinct, which they are assigned to protect). In this sense, the duo would serve more as “space cops” instead of being superheroes.
The True Detective style goes on to prove how the new DC slate reveal is willing to be open to diverse creative inspirations rather than just sticking to overdone superhero formulae. As Gunn is not too eager to reinterpret the origins of his characters, Lanterns would feature its titular characters as already-established heroes. The mystery that they will be solving is of an ancient scale that can have significant consequences for the two Green Lanterns as well as the overall story of the rebooted DC universe. It is also possible that the first season’s Earth-based story gives way to more interstellar arcs in future seasons much like the comics.
Lanterns (DCU)
Lanterns is a detective show based on DC Comics’ Green Lanterns. It started as an HBO Max series centered around Alan Scott, Guy Gardner, Jessica Cruz, and Simon Baz. However, James Gunn confirmed that the project was redesigned to focus on Hal Jordan and John Stewart in the new interconnected DC Universe franchise.