Interstellar space cop hijinks are Green Lantern‘s bread and butter, but the character’s cinema track record is uneven at best. The DC comic’s cartoon iterations have ranged from okay to excellent, but Ryan Reynolds’s 2011 movie was about as fun as a Fear Ring gut punch. The problem is rarely the source material. With Green Lantern, it has almost always been the execution that failed. Because of that, I’ve been anxious about HBO’s Lanterns from the beginning. A recent announcement from the team behind the show, however, offers a future that’s more Brightest Day than Blackest Night.
I want a reason to forgive my favorite comic universe for Suicide Squad and other disappointments. Well, we may finally have something worth believing in. HBO and Warner Bros. are giving Lanterns an eight-episode straight-to-series order. The bigger news? It has Chris Mundy (Ozark) as showrunner and Damon Lindelof (Watchmen) and Tom King (Mister Miracle, Supergirl, and more) as co-writers. Everyone’s taste in writers differs, but I consider Tom King one of DC’s best-living pens. The War of Jokes and Riddles is a testament to his succinct yet sumptuous dialog and plot construction, and I’m eager to see what he does with Lanterns.
The series will follow the new Corps recruit John Stewart and veteran lantern Hal Jordan as the two dive into a dark mystery in the American heartland. DC has struggled to establish a cinematic rival to the MCU. Lanterns could offer a serious foundation, at least on the Silver Screen. It might all hinge on how gracefully HBO handles John and Hal’s awe-inspiring powers. That’s especially true considering the show’s scope is (mostly?) restricted to earth. Let’s hope Lanterns has more than just a fancy ring to it.
