Green Lantern Series Officially Picked Up

‘Green Lantern: First Flight’. Photo: Warner Bros. Animation.

Preview:

DC Studios’ ‘Lanterns’ has won a series order at HBO.
The series will follow Lantern characters Hal Jordan and John Stewart.
Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof and Tom King are the showrunners.

Green Lantern, meet greenlight.

After several years of development, and one big change in creative direction, ‘Lanterns’, adapting the ‘Green Lantern’ DC comics character, has scored a series order from HBO.

It’ll be part of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Studios plan for a freshly intertwined set of movies and shows and was included in their big announcement last year.

What’s the story of ‘Green Lantern’ in comics form?

(L to R) Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and John Stewart from DC Comics. Photo: DC Comics.

Created in its first incarnation (a Lantern named Alan Scott) in 1940 by Martin Nodell and Bill Finger, the concept of the ‘Green Lantern’ comics is that of a super-powered, police force, battling evil doers with rings that allow them to channel energy into different forms. There are many Lanterns, who patrol the known and unknown universe.

‘Green Lantern’s history on screen has been seriously mixed. Though different takes on the character have flourished in animated movies and series, their live-action counterparts have had less luck. Ryan Reynolds played the Hal Jordan version in a 2011 movie that didn’t triumph at the box office, and there have been fleeting glimpses on the small screen.

Even Zack Snyder didn’t manage to realize his chosen Lantern –– John Stewart –– in his mammoth Snyder Cut of ‘Justice League’. Despite shooting a cameo with Wayne T. Carr as Stewart, Warners asked him to remove the character because of the studio’s own plans. In the end, Snyder swapped in Martian Manhunter.

(Center) James Gunn and the cast of ‘Superman.’ Photo: James Gunn’s Instagram Account.

Gunn has Nathan Fillion playing the Guy Gardner incarnation in his ‘Superman’ movie, which lands on July 11th next year.

And the show had been in development before Gunn and Safran made their big announcement. Back in 2020, ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’ Seth Grahame-Smith hopped aboard to write and run what HBO Max (as the streaming service was then called) was picturing its most expensive series to date, a space-set ‘Green Lantern’ drama whose focus would be the Alan Scott and Guy Gardner iterations of the character among the first and most popular versions.

‘Lanterns’ will follow the Hal Jordan and John Stewart characters, as new recruit Stewart and Lantern legend Jordan are described in the latest official synopsis as “two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.”

Who is working on ‘Lanterns’?

‘Green Lantern: First Flight’. Photo: Warner Bros. Animation.

Chris Mundy, whose resume includes stints on Netflix’s ‘Ozark’ and HBO’s ‘True Detective: Night Country’, is showrunner on the new series, working alongside ‘Watchmen’s Damon Lindelof and DC comics writer Tom King (whose ‘Supergirl’ comic is the basis for the new movie featuring the character).

They’ve received the go-ahead for eight initial episodes in a straight-to-series order.

Here’s what DC Studios bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran said about the news:

“We’re thrilled to bring this seminal DC title to HBO with Chris, Damon and Tom at the helm. 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 DCU we’re launching next summer with ‘Superman.’ ”

When will ‘Lantern’ be on screens?

HBO has yet to confirm a release date for the series. Since it has yet to be shot (or even cast), we wouldn’t expect it much before late 2025 or at some point in 2026.