With last Sunday’s episode revealing a far darker origin for eventual Green Lantern John Stewart than might have been expected, and the prior episode introducing multiple possible “big bads”, including several longtime Green Lantern nemeses, as well as a slew of unanswered questions, this take on the characters is nothing if not intriguing. Originally pitched as a more grounded version of the mythos, inspired by True Detective, Lanterns has thus far released three of the scheduled eight episodes, laying the groundwork early by taking the space cop opera of the comics and implanting it into a grounded, gritty detective story.
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On paper, it feels almost blasphemous, removing all of the cosmic fun normally found in the comics. In practice, it’s arguably one of the most exciting things to come out of DC films and television in a while. And really, it’s almost an ingenious reintroduction of the characters to the wider audience, after the underwhelming financial and critical response to Ryan Reynolds-starring Green Lantern, released in 2011. Heck, over a decade later, Reynolds is still mocking the movie. So, reintroducing the Green Lantern mythos with a more grounded show that slowly unravels its cosmic side is kind of perfect. And thus far, it’s been beloved by most Lantern fans and general audiences alike.
What’s Going on In Lanterns (So Far)
Up to this point, the show has introduced a mystery told in several separate timelines spanning nearly 40 years, with Hal Jordan becoming the Green Lantern in the 80s and eventually being killed in 2026 under mysterious circumstances. John Stewart, who would be one of the Green Lanterns to take up the mantle in the comics, portrayed here by Aaron Pierre, grows up idolizing the Lantern Corps after his father, John Stewart Sr., was chosen but ultimately failed the test when, after being lifted in the air by aliens called Guardians of the Universe, he admits to being afraid, a big no-no for Lanterns, who are governed by willpower.
Beyond that, the show takes place in a small town, which may or may not be at the center of an alien invasion, and may be harboring one of multiple Green Lantern nemeses, known as Manhunters. In the comics, the Manhunters (not to be confused with a certain martian hero) are robots created by the Guardians before the advent of the Green Lantern Corps, who, in their goal to restore order to the universe, ended up committing multiple genocides until they are stopped and the Guardians opt for a more human touch…or alien touch.
On top of that, when Hal sends John to retrieve his green lantern – the power battery that, in the comics, recharges Green Lanterns’ rings – from Coast City, John is kidnapped by another group of aliens who inform John about the Manhunters, describing a backstory for a character named Antaan that is very similar to classic Green Lantern baddie Atrocitus. Add to that the fact that, at the end of episode two, Hal visits a frozen prison planet housing mainline Lantern villain, Sinestro, who has been imprisoned after staging a coup against the Guardians, before being captured by Hal himself.
Where Is Lanterns Going In Episode 4 & Beyond?
In the show, and often in the comics – depending on continuity – Sinestro is a semi-father figure to Hal, being the one who trained him, which DC seems to be porting over to the show. This is especially important because one of the big through-lines throughout the show has been fear and fathers. Both of which Sinestro represents, both in the comics and on the show. All that said, Lanterns seems to be setting up at least three, if not more, of the Green Lanterns’ biggest and most important villains: Sinestro, the Manhunters, and Atrocitus. But mysteries remain, and outside of Sinestro, who showed up incarcerated on a prison planet, neither of the other two (or more in the case of the Manhunters) has made appearances, with only the Manhunters being actually mentioned by name.
Beyond that, the show has set up a clear power struggle between Hal and John (not uncommon amongst Earth-based Green Lanterns), with John working his whole life to take over the role, and Hal obviously reeling from the trauma of his mentor’s downfall, and what appears to be, but has not been explicitly stated yet, Hal’s subsequent tension with the Guardians. After all, they’re actively trying to replace Hal, thus the entrance of John Stewart – and where does that leave Hal’s ring (which is missing from his corpse but not in John’s possession)?
Multiple chess pieces have been laid out. We have multiple possible villains, some of whom may be involved with the main plot, some of whom may end up playing a sort of Hannibal Lecter role, and others who have not yet been explicitly mentioned, all set to converge on the small town of Rushville, Nebraska, which itself seems to be carrying some big mysteries. After all, the town seems to be dead, with Hal mentioning to the town’s chief of police, Kerry Kane, played wonderfully by Kelly Macdonald (who may even have a connection to the DCU’s Batman), that the town’s hospital is empty, with equipment left unpacked throughout.
Lastly, there’s the question of Hal Jordan’s death – something that outraged a lot of Green Lantern fans before the show was even out. However, with the showrunners teasing big twists in the final episodes of the season, not to mention Hal’s importance to the world of DC, it’s still hard to imagine HBO actually killed the most well-known Green Lantern for good in the DCU – especially in a show that has already teased the existence of shape-shifting aliens. We’ll have to see whether the show was being straightforward or potentially pulling a bait-and-switch (that many fans bought).
Is the town full of Manhunters? Aliens? Will Sinestro escape from prison? Is this all leading to Hal Jordan going rogue, echoing the events of the comic Emerald Twilight, in which he was possessed by the fear demon Parallax? Probably not that last one (yet). But it’s definitely worth noting, because the show certainly seems to be hinting at a Jordan who isn’t just at odds with the Guardians, but possibly at a point where he might follow in his mentor’s footsteps and outright reject them. In all, the show has created a series of mysteries that, unlike some other Damon Lindelof projects, seem to have answers that will need to be resolved before the series ends in early October.
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