DC’s Green Lantern Controversy Explained (& How Much Will It Really Matter?)

It’s been a busy few weeks in the world of Green Lantern, though much of the activity has taken place in the world as opposed to the comic or TV adventures of Hal Jordan and John Stewart. Things really started rolling when DC Studios finally revealed the first trailer for the anticipated HBO Max series Lanterns, and since then, we’ve had debates over the color green, a joke that brought the ire of a legendary comics creator, and a deep dive into how Lanterns’ showrunner views the franchise. All of that is why we’re breaking down the Green Lantern controversy and figuring out just how much of it, if any, really matters at all.

DC Studios teased the reveal of the first Lanterns trailer, but then decided to release it early, and you would assume that reaction would be mostly positive. In reality, the reveal ended up being a bit more divisive in terms of reactions, with some loving the trailer and the accuracy of those True Detective themes, while others were turned off by that very element and lamented that the series didn’t have enough green for a series focused on Green Lanterns. That led to a multitude of fan edits “fixing” the look of the show by adding more green, and that paved the way for an old quote from Lanterns’ showrunner Damon Lindelof to pop up on the radar.

No Green In The Lanterns

During an appearance on the Lovett It Or Leave It podcast, the topic of Lindelof’s “new Green Lantern show” came up, and that’s when Lindelof said, “It’s called Lanterns because we all agree that the green was stupid, so now it’s just Lanterns.” As you might imagine, that comment, despite being around a year old, started making the rounds, and it brought a response from writer Grant Morrison, who has written a host of Green Lantern adventures throughout his career.

On Morrison’s substack, he addresses the title of Lanterns and the comments from Lindelof. Morrison wrote, “TV writer/producer Damon Lindelof’s comments notwithstanding, the ‘Green’ in ‘Green Lantern(s)’ green is not ‘stupid’. Why does a writer attach himself to this kind of narrative if he thinks it’s fundamentally ‘stupid’? You don’t hand CSI scripts to patronising writers who condemn forensics experts and their haircuts as ‘stupid’, so why hire people who are ashamed and in denial about the comic book material they’ve been assigned to develop? Why don’t they turn down jobs they’re not suited for?”

“It’s not like he needs the money, and Lindelof has proven that he can come up with his own ideas. What is this jockish dismissal of superhero conventions intended to prove anyway? Does Lindelof imagine it makes him seem less nerdy? It’s a bit too late for that, so what’s it all about? The only people who give a fuck about the Lanterns TV series are Green Lantern fans,” Morrison wrote. “Why alienate them at the start? That feels more like ‘stupid’.”

Morrison’s issues also came down to the difference between a show titled Lanterns and one titled Green Lanterns, with the latter being a much more compelling title to Morrison. “Green Lanterns is a much more evocative and dramatic title than ‘Lanterns’, (just as ‘Raise the Red Lantern’ is a better movie title than ‘Raise the Lantern’), and anyone who can’t grasp why that is shouldn’t be anywhere near superhero stories,” Morrison wrote. “The show might even be good, but how much better could this stuff be if studios were willing to hire the right people for the job instead of phoning their embarrassed friends to water the source material down? Hollywood will die of insularity and inbreeding.”

The Response (From Everyone)

During this same time, it felt like many were chiming in on not only Lindelof’s comments but Morrison’s response and the general discourse. That included an interestingly timed Instagram post from Zack Snyder, who posted a behind-the-scenes photo with Wayne T. Carr and the final shot of Green Lantern from his director’s cut of Justice League.

Lindelof would then address his earlier joke and Morrison’s comments while also revealing just how much he loves the Green Lantern franchise. Lindelof wrote, “I have upset Grant Morrison, which means I have now pissed off MOST of the brilliant British/Scottish comics writers that I grew up idolizing. To quote the bard (Otis Redding), this is nobody’s fault but mine. I made a dumb joke on a comedy podcast. I’m not going to bob and weave about context, the joke was dumb, the fandom is not. I owe them an explanation and a genuine reflection of my actual feelings.”

“The very first time I appeared on a ComicCon panel was for the Lost Pilot, back in the summer of 2004. I wore my favorite T-shirt as I had long grown out of my favorite underoos, those being the uniform of Hal Jordan, Green Lantern of Sector 2814. For a quiet, uncoordinated kid, there was nothing cooler than a hero whose superpower was his imagination. And green is not stupid, it is my lifelong favorite color and I have a questionnaire that I filled out in third grade to prove it. Green is fucking awesome,” Lindelof wrote.

“More importantly, it would be a betrayal to everyone I worked for and alongside to say anything other than I was absolutely honored to be a part of the team that manifested the incredible construct that is Lanterns… because it was. I was sloppy and careless with my words, ironic considering I care so much about Hal, John and the entire Corps. I can and will do better to be worthy of the oath… until then, I’ll let the show speak for itself and I can’t wait for you all to hear what it has to say,” Lindelof wrote.

Does It Matter, And Will Any of This Affect The Show?

In the comments of that post, Nathan Fillion, who plays one of the DCU’s Green Lanterns, wrote, “The joke was funny. No harm, no foul! Keep up the great work, we appreciate you! 🧤” Then, co-head of DC Studios James Gunn shared a green heart on the post, it would seem as if there are no issues on the DCU side of things from all this. DC Studios is clearly behind the show, and those who have played a role in it, like Kyle Chandler, have spoken of the quality of the series.

Then there’s the fandom perspective, and while there has been a rather split opinion on the trailer, that was true of the reaction to Superman’s first trailers as well. Online discourse consisted of debates over too much (or too little) Krypto, the design of the costume, the action sequences, and more, and that continued all the way up to release. When it did release, it did immensely well, so just because this discourse exists in the here and now doesn’t mean the actual show will suffer in any significant way.

Will some fans be turned off by the overall take on the property and the comments made thus far? Absolutely, but doesn’t mean it’s a majority. That will only be seen when the show makes its full debut, and we are also likely to get more trailers, which could easily end up swaying opinion as well. As of now, this all really doesn’t matter regarding the ultimate success of the show, though it doesn’t make it any less interesting in the here and now. Granted, no one wants this to be the only thing being talked about when it comes to the show itself, but there are no current signs that this is going to happen.

Lanterns will release on HBO Max in August 2026.

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