James Gunn Shares Update on DC’s Green Lantern Show

Among the many projects announced for the DCU when James Gunn and Peter Safran took over was Lanterns, a TV series focusing on two of the Green Lantern characters. Prior to the Gunn and Safran ear of DC though, another Green Lantern show was in the works and even had actors attached with Finn Wittrock (American Horror Story) set to play Guy Gardner and Jeremy Irvine (War Horse) playing original Green Lantern Alan Scott. That Green Lantern show however is not the Green Lantern show being made for the DCU, as James Gunn confirmed in a recent post on Threads for one concerned DC fan.

When asked by a user what happened to the Green Lantern series being previously developed with Wittrock in the cast, Gunn revealed that the series not moving forward had more to do with just the business of Hollywood rather than any kind of nefarious feelings towards creatives involved with that project.

“I didn’t think it was in the DCEU, but it was before my time,” Gunn wrote. “That said, I think Finn’s a takented (sic) guy and he’ll be okay! Writers, directors, actors have projects fall through every day. We’ve all had it happen many times. It’s not being ‘done dirty’, it’s a part of the job.”

When asked what the progress is of the Lanterns show that he is developing for the DCU, Gunn replied with a series of man dancing emojis, three to be exact. What that means is….well it could frankly be anything. Boogying along? They’ve got three Lanterns? Take a guess, whatever you came up with is as valid as what I’ve got.

Though the previous version of Lanterns that was in development was going to focus on fan-favorite characters Guy Gardner and Alan Scott, the new version will focus on the two most popular versions of Green Lantern, Hal Jordan and John Stewart. 

“The next thing is a big Premiere HBO television series series called Lanterns this is a story of a couple of Green Lanterns Jon Stewart and Hal Jordan,” Gunn said when the series was announced. “We have a few other lanterns peppered in there but this is really a terrestrial based TV show which is almost like True Detective with a couple of Green Lanterns who are space cops watching over Precinct Earth in it they discover a terrifying mystery that ties into our largest story of the DCU. 

One of those other Lanterns that will be “peppered in there” will no doubt by Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner, who will make his debut in 2025’s Superman movie.

Lanterns wasn’t the only television shows announced for the DCU last year, with others confirmed including Creature Commandos, an animated series that will be the first official project in the DCU; Waller, a sequel to both The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker; Paradise Lost, a Game of Thrones-esque series set on Themyscira; and Booster Gold, a comedy featuring the DC hero. The feature films confirmed for the DCU’s Chapter 1 include Superman: Legacy, The Authority, The Brave and the Bold (featuring the DCU’s version of Batman, separate from Robert Pattinson’s The Batman), Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, and Swamp Thing.