5 Reasons To Be Optimistic About the DCU’s Green Lantern Show After the Backlash

The first trailer for the DCU series Lanterns has debuted and response has been, shall we say, mixed. The primary concern has nothing to do with performances or the concept of crafting a Green Lantern TV series but rather how the creatives seem to being going about it. Specifically, by their own admission, they’re making a detective story inspired by fellow HBO series True Detective. Audiences were expecting more Hal Jordan and John Stewart flying around. They were expecting the duo to craft big green things with a single thought. They were expecting costumes that were, well, a lot greener.

Lanterns looks about as different from the Green Lantern movie as is possible. That alone should serve as a reason for people to put their trepidation aside and let their excitement build. But, if that reason wasn’t enough, these serve the same purpose.

5) The DCU Has Been Solid So Far

Creature Commandos was received very well by critics and DC fans. Superman was received very well by critics and DC fans. And, most recently, Peacemaker Season 2 was received very well by critics and DC fans. It’s three for three. The most well-liked of the DCEU’s first three installments was Man of Steel, and that was far more divisive than universal crowd pleaser.

In other words, let’s just assume James Gunn and Peter Safran know what they’re doing by this point. Sure, we’re only one movie and two television seasons in, but we’ve seen enough to know that the DCU is capable of delivering high quality projects while rigidly adhering to neither normal storytelling structure nor audience expectations.

4) Damon Lindelof’s Track Record

Damon Lindelof has always specialized in delivering audiences something they weren’t expecting. Even his Watchmen was far different from the source material and Zack Snyder’s movie, yet it worked.

Lindelof is one of Lanterns‘ three creators alongside Chris Mundy and Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow writer Tom King, and it stands to reason this will stand alongside Lost, The Leftovers and Mrs. Davis as one of his more successful endeavors. After all, no one was expecting a show about people stranded on an island to be as out there as Lost was, yet it accrued a ton of fans.

3) Its Fantastic Cast

Kyle Chandler is one of the most likable actors on the planet. Even when he’s saddled with a thankless role like he was in the MonsterVerse he makes the most of it. This shows seasoned, mentoring version of Hal Jordan looks like a role that is going to let him have a lot of fun, and when he’s having fun we’re having fun.

Then there’s Aaron Pierre, who was brilliant in Netflix’s Rebel Ridge and looks like he’s going to be just as great as Lanterns‘ John Stewart. Pierre is on his way up, and this is going to be a role that gets him on a lot more people’s radar, which is exciting. Then there’s the fact that the great Kelly Macdonald of Brave and No Country for Old Men fame, has a major role. Her presence alone is reason enough to have faith in Lanterns. It went out of its way to get actors with a ton of range.

2) The Directors

Lanterns is going to consist of eight episodes with four directors handing two each. All four of those directors have found great success directing some of the best small screen IPs out there.

Stephen Williams has directed two episodes of Fallout, one episode of The Last of Us, two episodes of the aforementioned Watchmen, and the feature film Chevalier, amongst other things. Alik Sakharov has experience on Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones, Marco Polo, House of Cards, and Ozark. Then there’s Geeta Vasant Patel, whose episodes of House of the Dragon, The Great, and Ahsoka were all met with praise. Lastly, Slow Horses and Black Mirror‘s James Hawes is returning to the small screen after directing the films One Life and The Amateur. All of these directors’ projects hold a level of clout. It seems logical Lanterns will continue that trend for all four of them instead of buck it.

1) The Detective Show Approach

The very thing that has sewn division is one of the things that is most exciting and intriguing about Lanterns. It’s a small-town crime story just like True Detective, which is refreshingly different from what would pop in someone’s mind when they think “Green Lantern show.”

Look at how cosmic silliness and half-hearted attempts to stick to the source material worked out for the 2011 movie. As long as this series has a compulsively watchable and interesting mystery (or case to solve) at its core and solid chemistry between its leads it’s going to be fun to watch. Let’s keep our hopes up about this one.

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