There is one more episode of Lanterns season 1 left, and it will have quite a few important questions to answer when the DC Universe series returns this weekend. Lanterns is the first live-action project to focus on Green Lantern since 2011’s Green Lantern movie starring Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan. It is safe to say that the hero’s reputation has been salvaged.
Lanterns continues to impress with high viewership numbers and the DC series currently holds a near-perfect 92% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 146 reviews. In ScreenRant’s Lanterns season 1 review, the first Green Lantern project in the DCU Chapter One received a stellar 9 out of 10 score. Lanterns stars Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre as John Stewart.
Recently, the DC series also added another human Green Lantern to its roster, as Nathan Fillion returned as Guy Gardner and met John for the first time in the DCU. As the new HBO detective series heads into its season 1 finale, Lanterns will have to solve the mystery behind Hal’s death, which has been the biggest question of the show’s first season.
Sector 2814 · Ring Active How Well Do You Know Lanterns? “In brightest day, in blackest night…”
💍The RingPowered by will
🔦The Corps3,600 sectors
🌌OaThe Guardians
👮Earth BeatSector 2814
⚠Yellow PerilThe fear entity
01
Lanterns is one of the tentpole TV series launching James Gunn and Peter Safran’s rebooted DC Universe. On which streaming platform does it air?
✓ Correct! HBO Max — Warner Bros. Discovery’s flagship streamer and the natural home for DCU prestige TV alongside Peacemaker and The Penguin. Lanterns is positioned as the DCU’s high-end serialised drama counterpart to Gunn’s theatrical Superman relaunch, sharing canon with the films. Disney+ runs Marvel; Netflix and Apple are rival streamers.
✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is HBO Max. Netflix has had various superhero shows but not DCU. Disney+ is Marvel’s home. Apple TV+ doesn’t house DC. HBO Max is Warner Bros. Discovery’s streamer and the TV home of the Gunn/Safran DCU — Lanterns joins Peacemaker and upcoming DCU series there.
02
Unlike most Green Lantern adaptations, Lanterns pairs two Earth-based ring-bearers in a buddy-cop framework — a weathered veteran and a newer recruit partnered together on Sector 2814 duty. Which two Lanterns lead the show?
✓ Correct! Hal Jordan and John Stewart — two of the most beloved Earth-assigned Lanterns — are paired as the show’s central duo. Hal is the hot-shot test-pilot veteran, John the disciplined ex-Marine architect with a sharper sense of justice. The pairing draws heavily from the Geoff Johns comics era and lets the show explore two very different philosophies of what a Green Lantern should be.
✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is Hal Jordan and John Stewart. Guy Gardner (played by Nathan Fillion) is a separate DCU character who appears in the 2025 Superman film. Kyle Rayner is a beloved Lantern but not part of this show. The Lanterns duo is the Hal/John pairing — a pointedly contrasting veteran and recruit on Sector 2814 duty together.
03
The role of Hal Jordan — the weathered, test-pilot-turned-space-cop original Earth Lantern — went to a veteran actor best known as Coach Eric Taylor on Friday Night Lights and for leading Bloodline. Who plays Hal?
✓ Correct! Kyle Chandler — Emmy winner for Friday Night Lights, star of Bloodline, and part of the Monsterverse (Godzilla: King of the Monsters) — plays an older, weathered Hal Jordan. James Gunn wanted a seasoned, grounded presence rather than a rookie. Ryan Reynolds played Hal in 2011’s widely-mocked Green Lantern film (a different continuity); Nathan Fillion plays Guy Gardner in the 2025 Superman film.
✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is Kyle Chandler. Ryan Reynolds’ Hal was the 2011 film (a separate, mostly-disowned continuity). Nathan Fillion plays Guy Gardner in the 2025 Superman film — not Hal. Chris Pine isn’t in the DCU. Chandler’s weathered, Friday-Night-Lights gravitas is exactly the mature Hal energy Gunn wanted for the show.
04
John Stewart — ex-Marine sniper, architect, and one of DC’s most iconic Black heroes — is played by a British actor who broke out in Barry Jenkins’ The Underground Railroad and Jeremy Saulnier’s Rebel Ridge. Who is he?
✓ Correct! Aaron Pierre — the British actor who earned raves as Caesar in The Underground Railroad (2021) and carried Netflix’s Rebel Ridge (2024) with a performance frequently compared to early Denzel Washington. Gunn called his casting “a no-brainer.” Winston Duke, Sterling K. Brown and John Boyega are all great actors but not in the role.
✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is Aaron Pierre. Winston Duke is M’Baku in the Marvel universe. Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us, American Fiction) is Marvel-adjacent too. John Boyega famously played Finn in Star Wars. Pierre’s Rebel Ridge performance — playing a disciplined ex-Marine — is essentially his audition for John Stewart, and Gunn’s team cast him off it.
05
James Gunn has repeatedly pitched Lanterns as a grounded, small-town murder-mystery thriller — where the space-cop rings are secondary to a detective case on Earth. Which acclaimed HBO series is his go-to tonal comparison?
✓ Correct! Gunn has explicitly called Lanterns his “True Detective in the DCU” — a slow-burn, atmospheric, character-driven case with superhero elements layered over a grounded murder mystery. Showrunner Chris Mundy actually did True Detective: Night Country duties, bringing that DNA directly. Watchmen (Damon Lindelof) was also cited, and Lindelof has consulting writer credits, but True Detective is the primary comp.
✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is True Detective. Gunn has named it as the explicit tonal blueprint — a slow-burn, character-driven murder mystery with superhero elements layered over it. Chris Mundy, the show’s runner, worked on True Detective: Night Country, bringing the DNA directly. Watchmen was a secondary comp (Damon Lindelof consults), but True Detective is the primary pitch.
06
When James Gunn and Peter Safran took over as DC Studios co-CEOs in 2022, they announced a rebooted slate of interconnected films and TV shows — with Lanterns among the launch titles. What is this first DCU phase officially called?
✓ Correct! Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters — announced in January 2023 as the Gunn/Safran DCU’s opening slate. It includes Superman (2025), The Authority, Supergirl, The Brave and the Bold, Paradise Lost, Waller, Creature Commandos, and of course Lanterns. Crisis on Infinite Earths is a comics event; Flashpoint and Dark Knights are other DC storylines, not the chapter branding.
✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters. Crisis on Infinite Earths is a famous DC comics crossover event (and Arrowverse crossover) but not a DCU chapter label. Flashpoint was referenced in The Flash (2023) from the now-defunct DCEU. The Gunn/Safran era officially named its launch phase Gods and Monsters — Superman 2025, Lanterns, and related titles.
07
Green Lanterns serve the Guardians of the Universe, an ancient race who created the Corps’ 3,600-sector peacekeeping force and charge the Lantern rings from a central Power Battery on their home planet. What is the Guardians’ homeworld called?
✓ Correct! Oa — the small blue-skinned Guardians’ home at the centre of the universe. It houses the Central Power Battery from which all Green Lantern rings draw their energy, and serves as the Corps’ academy and operational base. Krypton is Superman’s destroyed homeworld; Themyscira is Wonder Woman’s hidden Amazon island; Apokolips is Darkseid’s hellscape.
✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is Oa. Krypton is Superman’s homeworld. Themyscira is Paradise Island where Wonder Woman was raised. Apokolips is Darkseid’s grim world in the Fourth World mythos. Oa is specifically the Guardians of the Universe’s planet — home to the Central Power Battery that fuels every Green Lantern ring in all 3,600 sectors.
08
Every Green Lantern recites the same oath when charging their ring — a four-line rhyming incantation that’s become one of the most famous pieces of verse in comic-book history. How does it famously begin?
✓ Correct! “In brightest day, in blackest night / No evil shall escape my sight / Let those who worship evil’s might / Beware my power — Green Lantern’s light!” The oath dates back to 1940’s All-American Comics #16, was refined through the Silver Age, and is considered one of DC’s most sacred bits of verse. Every canonical adaptation includes some version of it.
✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is “In brightest day, in blackest night…” The full oath: “No evil shall escape my sight / Let those who worship evil’s might / Beware my power — Green Lantern’s light!” It’s been canon since 1940 and remains one of comics’ most instantly recognisable pieces of verse — recited in every major Green Lantern adaptation.
Ring Depowered · Report to Oa Your Corps Rank
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Honor Guard veteran — or still in Corps training?
There are a few suspects for who might have killed Hal, including players like Sinestro, Noah Macon, Sheriff Kerry, Billy Macon, the Guardians of the Universe, and more. There have also been hints in Lanterns‘ new trailers that seem to suggest Hal might still be alive. Additionally, the Lanterns season 1 finale has to set up John Stewart for 2027’s Man of Tomorrow, James Gunn’s Superman movie sequel.
What Time The Lanterns Season 1 Finale Releases On HBO And HBO Max?
Different from other superhero shows who adhered to a binge release format, or even Marvel’s upcoming VisionQuest series starring Paul Bettany on Disney+, which will have a two-episode premiere, Lanterns has strictly followed a weekly release format. As part of that, all of Lanterns season 1’s episodes have been released on HBO and HBO Max on the same day and at the same time, with its weekly slot not changing. That will still hold true for the Lanterns season 1 finale, which will be released on HBO and HBO Max on Sunday, October 4, at 9 PM ET.
Lanterns season 1 started airing on HBO and HBO Max on August 16, with the DC series replacing the Game of Thrones spin-off House of the Dragon, whose season 3 had concluded on the previous Sunday, August 9, as the prestige HBO series in that 9 PM ET timeslot. After Lantern season 1’s finale, HBO’s next TV show in that key timeslot will be the three-part documentary The Pet Cemetery Murders: A Ghost Story. The upcoming series debuts on Sunday, October 11, at 9 PM ET, exactly one week after the Lanterns season 1 finale.
Lanterns Is Unlikely To End With Season 1
Lanterns has yet to be officially renewed for season 2. While there is a chance that season 1 could be the end of the road for the DC series, that is unlikely to be the case at this point. Both reviews and viewership are positive, which suggests that HBO and DC will renew the series, perhaps even announcing it as soon as after the Lanterns season 1 finale ends. A possible factor in not renewing Lanterns before the season ends is to keep the focus on the mystery at hand and enhance the tension and stakes going into the finale.
That said, it has already been widely reported that Lanterns season 2’s writers’ room started coming up with ideas for where the show could go next in July. Led by Chris Mundy, the only original Lanterns creator to return if season 2 happens — Damon Lindelof and Tom King are occupied with other shows for HBO and DC, respectively — the superhero series’ fate should not take too long to be decided, and it is currently looking good for Lanterns.
Release Date
August 16, 2026
Network
HBO
Showrunner
Chris Mundy
Directors
Alik Sakharov, James Hawes, Stephen Williams, Geeta Patel
Writers
Damon Lindelof, Chris Mundy, Tom King, Vanessa Baden Kelly, Justin Britt-Gibson, Breannah Gibson
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