TV Review: Lanterns Is the Gritty, Human Green Lantern Story We Didn’t Know We Needed
When Lanterns was initially pitched as a sort of buddy-cop True Detective set in the American Midwest, I wasn’t entirely sure how that would work within the Green Lantern universe.
Turns out, it works brilliantly.
Instead of spending ridiculous amounts of money trying to create a fantastical cosmic playground every week, HBO’s Lanterns brings everything crashing back down to Earth. New recruit John Stewart and veteran Hal Jordan are essentially two cops investigating something very strange in small-town America — and the decision to make this a grounded murder mystery gives the series a personality completely its own within James Gunn and Peter Safran’s expanding DCU. That’s pretty much exactly how HBO described the premise from the beginning: two intergalactic cops investigating a dark mystery in the American heartland.
And thank God somebody realised that character is considerably more interesting than another hour of CGI buildings exploding.
Aaron Pierre is the revelation here.
His John Stewart has presence without needing to constantly announce it. Pierre brings an extraordinary stillness to the character, gradually letting us understand the emotional machinery operating underneath. By the time John really begins questioning what being a Green Lantern actually means, you’re completely invested in him.
He’s perfect casting.
Opposite him, Kyle Chandler’s Hal Jordan is much more unpredictable — cocky, spunky, damaged, funny and frequently difficult to read. There’s enough instability bubbling underneath Hal that comic fans may find themselves wondering whether the DCU could eventually explore his infamous connection to Parallax. That’s an especially fun possibility considering the much-maligned 2011 Ryan Reynolds Green Lantern movie used Parallax very differently as its primary villain.
But Lanterns isn’t particularly interested in giving us easy heroes and villains.
The idea I loved most throughout the series is essentially: despite your programming, you can still choose humanity.
It’s woven beautifully through John, Hal, the Green Lantern Corps and particularly the Manhunters. What you’re created to be doesn’t necessarily have to dictate what you become.
And that’s a surprisingly universal message for a series populated by intergalactic police officers, ancient alien organisations and murderous artificial beings.
Perhaps being human isn’t about being inherently good. Maybe it’s about having the capacity to choose good despite everything telling you otherwise.
That’s where Lanterns becomes something much richer than superhero television.
It also fits beautifully into Gunn’s DCU because it doesn’t try to duplicate the colourful insanity of Superman. Instead, it gives these characters a grounded emotional foundation first, so when they’re eventually dropped into something much bigger and more fantastical, we already understand who they are.
And that’s why I’m particularly excited to see John Stewart alongside Guy Gardner as the DCU continues expanding. Nathan Fillion’s deliciously obnoxious Guy already represents a completely different kind of Lantern, and John’s journey now gives Gunn another deeply established personality to throw into that mix. John is expected to continue into the Superman follow-up Man of Tomorrow, which DC Studios has slated for release on July 9, 2027.
Rather cleverly, Lanterns doesn’t really feel like homework for another DC project.
It feels like a great HBO crime drama that just happens to have Green Lantern rings in it.
And that’s exactly why it works.
EQ Music / Boys On Film verdict: Highly recommended.
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