Despite the cosmic nature inherent to the Green Lantern concept, early buzz on the series Lanterns has been entirely terrestrial. In his first announcement for the show, James Gunn compared Lanterns to True Detective and Slow Horses—good shows each, but not exactly the type of series where a living planet could show up. Likewise, the only image released from the series so far shows Chandler and Pierre as Jordan and Stewart, walking down a desert road in plainclothes: no aliens, no strange planets, not even a power ring.
Since then, Gunn, as well as Lanterns co-creators Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King have all assured readers that the show’s central mystery may take place on Earth, but there will be plenty of cosmic elements. And the cast does include Ulrich Thomsen as Sinestro, a renegade former Green Lantern from the planet Korugar, and Paul Ben-Victor as an alien on a mission of vengeance.
But the schedule change might be the clearest sign that Lanterns will indeed have a cosmic element. Based on the maxi-series Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King and Bilquis Evely, Supergirl will follow Kara Zor-El (Milly Alcock) as she initially travels to various planets with a red sun, weakening her powers enough so that she can get drunk to celebrate her 21st birthday. On one of those planets, Supergirl will be recruited by young Ruthye Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley) to help her find her father’s killer, Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts). Also, the Czarnian bounty hunter Lobo will show up, played by Jason Momoa.
In short, Supergirl will take viewers deep into space, introducing them to some of the strangest parts of DC’s universe. Moreover, it will give viewers even more grounding to understand who the Green Lantern Corps are and why they matter so much.
Does this mean that Lanterns will suddenly become hard sci-fi and will deal with the Omega Men rebelling against the Spider Guild in the Vega System? Probably not. But it will at least show viewers that Hal and John are part of something much bigger and much stranger than anything on Earth and remind them that, if worst comes to worst and evil does threaten to escape their sight, they can always call on their friend and fellow Green Lantern member, Mogo the Living Planet.
Lanterns comes to HBO in the summer of 2026.
