Lanterns Ordered to Series at HBO

Lanterns, based on the DC Comics franchise Green Lantern, has been picked up at HBO.

The eight-episode season will focus on two particular Green Lanterns — Hal Jordan and John Stewart — as “two intergalactic cops” investigating a murder together in the American heartland, per the series’ logline.

Lanterns sounds as though it may follow a buddy cop formula, with Hal as the veteran and John as the rookie. Neither character has been cast at this time, and a release date has not been confirmed.

Hal Jordan was created by writer John Broome and artist Gil Kane in 1959. He is a fighter pilot who comes across the crashed ship of Green Lantern Abin Sur and inherits his ring, and he remains the most famous Green Lantern.

John Stewart was introduced in 1972 by writer Dennis O’Neil and artist Neal Adams; he was one of the first African-American superheroes. Stewart is most famous for starring as the primary Green Lantern in the 2000s Justice League cartoon, where Phil LaMarr voiced him.

Initially developed by DC Comics TV mogul Greg Berlanti and to-be showrunner Seth Grahame-Smith, Lanterns has evolved across its development.

The project, as overseen by Berlanti and Grahame-Smith, initially cast Finn Wittrock and Jeremy Irvine as Green Lanterns Guy Gardner and Alan Scott. Those plans have now been scrapped, and James Gunn and Peter Safran have been appointed as the heads of the newly formed DC Studios.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, Safran said in 2023 that Berlanti’s Green Lantern would’ve been a “space opera” show, not down to earth like Lanterns will be.

“We’re thrilled to bring this seminal DC title to HBO with Chris, Damon, and Tom at the helm,” Gunn and Safran said in a statement about Lanterns.

“John Stewart and Hal Jordan are two of DC’s most compelling characters, and Lanterns brings them to life in an original detective story that is a foundational part of the unified [DC Universe] we’re launching next summer with Superman,” Gunn and Safran added.

Chris Mundy (Ozark, True Detective: Night Country) will serve as the showrunner of Lanterns. Damon Lindelof (who previously did a DC Comics-inspired murder mystery show with Watchmen) and Tom King (a prolific DC Comics writer) are co-writing the season. All three writers will also serve as executive producers.

                                                                                                           —

Lanterns will air on HBO.

 Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here

Devin Meenan

Devin Meenan is a freelance entertainment writer, with bylines at outlets including IGN, /Film, Polygon and more. His first love was movies but he found himself writing more passionately about TV, hence him joining the Tell-Tale TV team. His favorite types of TV to sink into include prestige dramas, mystery box thrillers, sci-fi/fantasy, and anime. He can be reached on Twitter @ DevinM626.