We’re five episodes into HBO’s Lanterns, and the show has introduced several possible villains for the larger story, but has also kept its cards close to its chest in revealing exactly who the “big bad” of the show will be. Thus far, we know that a Manhunter (or multiple) is in Rushville, Nebraska, and we know the identity of one. That is, if it’s just one Manhunter, because typically in the Green Lantern comics, it isn’t just one Manhunter; it’s multiple.
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Prior to this episode, it would have been safe to assume that Zoe Macon, the confirmed Manhunter, was the “big bad” of the series, right? But now she’s dead. And in her place, the show has also teased multiple villains that could take the spotlight – including Sinestro. The series has also introduced at least one Guardian who seems to be morally dubious, something that also has comic precedent. So, halfway through the series, let’s look at all of the options – and try to decide who is most likely the main villain of the season.
Sinestro
In the comics, Sinestro is the main antagonist of the Green Lanterns. He’s a former Green Lantern-turned mad tyrant who used his power to become a dictator on his homeworld before forming the Yellow Lanterns. In the show, as it stands now, Sinestro seems to be in the early stages of his villain arc.
An enigmatic mentor and father figure from Hal Jordan’s past, Sinestro in the show is a former Green Lantern who staged a coup against the Guardians. Typically, that might make him an obvious bad guy, but given that the Guardians themselves seem to be a little morally questionable, it stands to reason that… maybe Sinestro had a point. Add to that the fact that Hal Jordan himself seems to be at odds with the Guardians, which is why they are trying to replace him with John Stewart, and perhaps Sinestro was acting upon an actual threat when he attempted his coup.
Some might say that Jordan is simply conflicted because Sinestro is a father figure to him, a man who desperately needed one after the death of his own dad. That said, given the character’s complexity in the comics as well as what we’ve seen of Sinestro so far in the show, it’s unlikely he’s the main villain this season; though, he could undoubtedly step into that spotlight eventually. When it comes to Jordan, Sinestro, and the Guardians, there’s just too much juicy drama to explore and it would do the dynamic a disservice to rush it in season 1.
The Manhunter (Manhunters)
Creating a consistent, ever-shifting mystery with moral gray areas is one of the show’s strengths. Even supposed good guys Jordan, the Guardians, and John Stewart have proven at times to be less than noble throughout the story thus far. Likewise, the show introduced Zoe, the Manhunter, as a friendly, if not slightly enigmatic, ally to the show’s heroes, and introduced Sinestro as a man behind bars, questioning a bureaucratic body that has flexible ethics. The Guardians definitely aren’t unimpeachable. The Guardian we’ve learned the most about, Lianna, is manipulative – and, often, emotionless. After all, there’s something wrong about an alien visiting a young mother and telling her to create a child soldier, basically.
More than likely, the Manhunters are scapegoats for the Guardians’ own mistakes. Created as weapons, they decided to keep peace by destroying all life in the universe, or so we’re told. Considering that Tom King is one of the creators for the show, it’s more likely the Manhunters are simply the fall guys for decisions that did not turn out how the Guardians intended, and that Zoe was hiding out on Earth as a means of survival, not an outright threat.
But if Zoe is dead, how could the Manhunters be the season’s main villain? As mentioned, there’s often more than one Manhunter in a Green Lantern comic story – and considering their ability to shape-shift, there are still several notable characters who could actually be Manhunters still disguised. Even if Zoe wanted to live a peaceful life on Earth, there’s no guarantee other Manhunters have the same goal – especially after John Stewart killed Zoe. Maybe that move will unleash a more malevolent Manhunter who Zoe was keeping in check and has yet to be unmasked.
Hal Jordan vs. John Stewart
This is probably one of the least likely scenarios, but considering that Hal Jordan didn’t want to give up his ring, and Stewart might still have reasons to take it – even after giving it back to the Guardians (which will presumably be how Guy Gardner got his ring), it’s still possible there’s more conflict to explore between the two men. There’s still a lot of unaccounted time in the jump from the past story into the present; could Jordan have turned to Sinestro for help when he lost the ring?
Does that mean that it’s likely that either of them is the series’ true villain? Not likely. If anything, one might consider the events of episode 5 as the turning point in their relationship – where they’re no longer competing for the ring. It’s already gone.
Not to mention, Stewart is expected to show up in Man of Tomorrow, and it’s not likely he’d be praised as a hero in that movie – if he had a hand in potentially killing Hal Jordan in 2026. Most likely, the tension between the two men, much like most buddy cop dramas (including True Detective, which was an inspiration for this show), needed conflict between two otherwise heroic protagonists – and it also serves as a way for the show to explore the moral corruption of the larger systems run by the Guardians.
Hector Hammond
In episode 4, we thought we Lanterns‘ version of Hector Hammond, a major villain in the Green Lantern comics (and a chief antagonist in Ryan Reynolds’ Green Lantern movie), but in reality, the man who claimed to be Hector Hammond wasn’t actually him. Instead, he was posing as Hammond as part of a ruse Zoe orchestrated to draw Hal Jordan and John Stewart off her scent long enough to rally the town and prepare to fight the Lanterns.
Could he come back? Was his inclusion just an in-joke for Green Lantern fans? All of these are possible, but I’d say not that likely for this season. Given they did name-drop him, and have established some backstory for the character now, he’s surely part of the DCU that could be activated later on – but, after revealing Zoe as the benefactor, plus the prior Hector Hammond fakeout, not to mention the central Guardians vs. Manhunters vs. Hal Jordan vs. John Stewart conflict that’s been set up for five episodes, it would be very strange to reveal Hammond for a three-episode villain arc.
The Guardians of the Universe
I’ve already laid out most of my case for why the Guardians (or at least a Guardian) could be the villain. They created the Manhunters, armed them, and then let history remember them purely as monsters once things went wrong. They are the ones pressuring John Stewart to take Hal’s ring and, chillingly, to “remove” his mentor, a startling ask dressed up as institutional necessity. They basically made the Stewart family create a child soldier for them after traumatizing John’s father, John Stewart Sr., who lost his shot at the ring because he admitted he was afraid, a very specific kind of test that reads less like evaluating courage and more like breeding compliance. That’s not incidental. That’s a species of ancient bureaucrats engineering the next generation of warriors they want, and discarding the ones who show a flicker of humanity.
Digging deeper, look at Tom King’s body of work. From Mister Miracle to his Batman and Human Target runs, he regularly returns to institutions that chew up the people serving them and call it order. The Guardians of the Universe are exactly that kind of institution: an ancient, self-appointed authority that built a robot police force, panicked when that force turned violent, and has spent millennia rewriting the story so the blame lands anywhere but on themselves.
If Lanterns is going to reveal a villain worthy of King’s fingerprints, it probably won’t be a rogue alien or a shapeshifter hiding in a diner. It’ll be the “good guys” in the room the whole time, the ones who’ve been giving Hal and John their orders since episode one.
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