The 2020s are proving to be an amazing decade for DC Studios under James Gunn and Peter Safran. 2025’s Superman was a smash hit with critics and moviegoers, and now, Supergirl is due to take flight this June. In addition to having a strong cinematic debut, DC Studios is also seeing huge success on the small screen. Peacemaker has now had two seasons, with Creature Commandos also due for a second season. Outside of the main cinematic DCU, DC Studios is also seeing success with Matt Reeves’ The Batman franchise, with The Penguin being an award-winning TV spinoff.
Given the high success DC Studios is enjoying right now, it only makes sense to expand the DC Universe with another TV series aimed at an adult audience: Lanterns. Based on DC Comics’ Green Lantern Corps, Lanterns aims to reinterpret the source material in the style of HBO’s True Detective, complete with a neo-western tone. Warner Bros. Discovery has now released two trailers ahead of the show’s Aug. 16 release, and one pattern is already emerging: Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) aren’t exactly buddies.
Both trailers establish that Hal has been Earth’s Green Lantern for years (maybe decades) and is apparently training John. However, there are two different schools of thought running through both men. Despite being the older and more experienced Green Lantern, Hal appears to be losing his heroic touch and is abusing the power of his ring for personal gain, like counterfeiting money. He also doesn’t see this as a problem and is even seen gaslighting John when the latter calls him out on the fact.
On John’s end, both trailers spotlight his strong moral compass, effectively hinting at John’s ascension to becoming the DCU’s main Green Lantern by the end of the series. This also seems to be strongly hinting at Hal’s fall from grace, with the implication that John will inherit his ring. While the trailers aren’t giving away the actual story, at the same time, seeing the interaction between Hal and John in both trailers makes me think I already know this story. In fact, I’ve already seen it twice: once in the comics and again in the 2022 animated DC film, Green Lantern: Beware My Power.
DC Comics fans are already familiar with the infamous Green Lantern story “Emerald Twilight“, which is one of the most reviled comic storylines Green Lantern fans would like to forget about. Originally published in 1994 (the same year as “Reign of the Supermen” and Zero Hour), “Emerald Twilight” saw the destruction of Coast City (Hal’s hometown) at the hands of Mongul and Cyborg Superman. This was done to create a large engine that could convert Earth into Warworld. This loss saw a grief-stricken Hal temporarily recreate his city and the people he knew with his power ring until the power ran out.
This action got Hal in trouble with the Guardians, who wanted to sanction him for violating their laws, but Hal had other plans: he went straight to Oa to drain the main power battery of its power. This saw Hal kill other fellow Green Lanterns and steal their power rings. This also resulted in the death of most of the Guardians except one.
After Hal drained the main power battery and became Parallax, he became a recurring villain in DC stories until his defeat in Zero Hour. His downfall also led to the surviving Guardian, Ganthet, awarding Kyle Rayner with a power ring. It wouldn’t be until the 2004 storyline, Green Lantern: Rebirth, that Hal’s evil actions would be retconned as consequential to his being infected by a fear-based parasite known as the Parallax entity.
DC Comics
A version of “Emerald Twilight” and Green Lantern: Rebirth was adapted for Green Lantern: Beware My Power, except instead of Kyle Rayner, a dying Ganthet gives Hal’s power ring to Marine veteran John Stewart. However, unlike the Lanterns trailers that have (thus far) depicted John as eager to become a Green Lantern, that film’s version of John had no interest in becoming the Emerald Knight.
That was until he met Hal Jordan, who was not only revealed to still be alive and held captive, but was also corrupted by Sinestro’s Parallax entity. This effectively made Hal the movie’s main villain, complete with a genocidal agenda. Hal’s villainous turn is what ultimately got John to accept the Green Lantern mantle since Hal was no longer worthy of the ring.
Lanterns appears to be hinting at a similar storyline, especially since Sinistro has already been cast for the series and is confirmed to appear. But is he really the series’ main villain, or is he just the fall guy until Hal is revealed to be the show’s Big Bad all along? If so, this would effectively follow the same plot twist as Beware My Power, which then wouldn’t be shocking to DC fans.
In fact, it would most certainly be predictable, especially if the Parallax entity is also revealed to be possessing Hal. This also wouldn’t be the first time the Parallax entity has appeared in a live-action Green Lantern adaptation, since he also appeared as the main villain of the 2011 film starring Ryan Reynolds.
Of course, it’s entirely possible that Lanterns could still subvert expectations by making a villainous Hal the red herring and not the show’s final boss. At the same time, however, it’s become a pattern in the few Green Lantern adaptations we’ve had for Hal to break bad for the sake of a “good” plot twist or for the Parallax entity to appear as the main villain.
If Lanterns does go this route, it would be a disappointing introduction to the Green Lantern mythos in James Gunn’s DCU, especially given the six to nine decades of source material to draw from. This includes Hal Jordan’s well-known team-ups with Green Arrow in the 1970s and the recent critically-acclaimed Green Lantern: Earth One graphic novels by Gabriel Hardman and Corinna Bechko.
Hal’s well-established heroic legacy far eclipses the events of “Emerald Twilight” to the point where fan backlash was strong enough to require a major retcon in the form of Green Lantern: Rebirth. It then begs the question of why film and television adaptations keep going back to that 1994 well for their story ideas instead of the vast material to choose from that already showcases Hal’s strengths and flaws as a hero.
Furthermore, John’s Green Lantern origin does not require Hal’s heroic downfall for him to stand out. As a character who was originally conceptualized to challenge racial stereotypes and the lack of diverse representation in comics in 1971, DC Studios could easily draw on those two concepts for its version of John.
In the comics canon, John has been presented with two origins: one as a politically conscious Black architect and university graduate and another as a Marine veteran (the latter of which was first introduced in the Justice League cartoons of the 2000s). Both of those origins are strong starting points for elevating John in Gunn’s DCU, especially given how relevant they would be to the US in the 2020s. The Black architect origin alone could easily explore themes pertaining to racial inequality and how this informs the way John interacts with authorities and the other DCU heroes, including Hal. John’s military career could also explore those same themes and the impact of war as part of his heroic journey.
Since DC has not maximized the potential of those two ideas in the comics, the Lanterns series has a golden opportunity to pick up that tab and do something more impactful with them. Of course, fans will have to wait and see how Lanterns plays out before judging the story. But given the strong potential that’s already there, it would be a huge waste to once more draw from the “Emerald Twilight” storyline. Not only would Lanterns not be doing anything new by doing so, but it would especially miss out on doing something original to truly make it stand out from the few adaptations we’ve had.
Lanterns will debut on HBO Max on Aug. 16, 2026.
You must be logged in to post a comment.