Green Lanterns are intergalactic peacekeepers who wearrings that give them extraordinary powers. The series follows experienced LanternHal Jordan and new recruitJohn Stewart as they investigate a murder inNebraska, which leads them to darker mysteries and reckonings.[1]
Aaron Pierre asJohn Stewart: A new Green Lantern recruit whom Jordan is training to replace himself.[6][1] Mundy said the character was both amarine and an artistic architect,[7][8] and felt Pierre could portray both of these aspects. He said Pierre was a "serious theater actor, yet he also looks like he was built in a lab to be an action star".[1] DirectorJames Hawes said Pierre had "a magnificent presence. He feels so forceful, so cool, so understated."[8]
Kelly Macdonald as Kerry: A sheriff deeply devoted to her family and close-knit town[9]
Nathan Fillion asGuy Gardner: An abrasive member of the Green Lantern Corps andJustice Gang,[10] who Fillion described as "the last [Green Lantern] you want" in an emergency. Fillion said the character is "a little bit higher strung" inLanterns compared to his introduction in the filmSuperman (2025), and that he enjoyed exploring the character in a new environment.[11]
Garret Dillahunt as William Macon: A modern cowboy who hides his "self-righteous, conspiracy-minded" personality behind a charming façade[12]
Poorna Jagannathan as Zoe: A woman who is "as composed and cunning [as] the influential men around her"[13]
Ulrich Thomsen asSinestro: A rogue former member of the Green Lantern Corps who is "ruthless yet undeniably charming" and was once a mentor and friend to Hal[14]
Paul Ben-Victor as Antaan: An extraterrestrial who is "devoted to exposing the truth and exacting vengeance against those who wronged his people" and delivers his own brand of justice[21]
Greg Berlanti, the producer of multipleDC Comics–based television series, announced that he was developing a series based on theGreen Lantern characters for the streaming serviceHBO Max in October 2019. Berlanti had previously co-written the filmGreen Lantern (2011).[26] In January 2020, he said the series would span several decades and tell two stories about Green Lanterns on Earth, as well as a story about the villainous characterSinestro in space.[27] The series was officially picked up for a 10-episode season by HBO Max that October.Marc Guggenheim, who also co-wrote theGreen Lantern film, andSeth Grahame-Smith were revealed to be writing the series, with Grahame-Smith serving asshowrunner.[28] The series could not make use of the main Green Lanterns from the comic books,Hal Jordan andJohn Stewart, because they were being reserved forDC Extended Universe (DCEU) films.[29] Instead, the series was set to explore other Green Lanterns from the comics, includingGuy Gardner,Jessica Cruz,Simon Baz,Alan Scott,Kilowog, and new Green Lanterns created for the series.[28]
In April 2021, the series was revealed to primarily focus on Scott, a secretly gay FBI agent in 1941 who becomes Earth's first Green Lantern, and Gardner, an "embodiment of 1980s hyper-patriotism", alongside the half-alien Bree Jarta in 1984.Finn Wittrock was cast as Gardner after Berlanti received permission from producerRyan Murphy for the actor to prioritizeGreen Lantern over the planned second season of Murphy'sNetflix seriesRatched (2020). An actor was in negotiations to portray Scott. The series was said to be the most expensive in Berlanti's career and was expected to begin filming later in 2021. Berlanti had been writing with Grahame-Smith and Guggenheim, who were all serving as executive producers alongsideGeoff Johns, Sarah Schechter, David Madden, and David Katzenberg.[30] Pornsak Pichetshote, who previously served as an editor for DC'sVertigo Comics imprint and was an executive atDC Entertainment overseeing its television content, was later revealed to be part of thewriters' room as well.[31]Jeremy Irvine was revealed to be in talks to portray Scott in May,[32] and was officially cast soon after.[33]Lee Toland Krieger was hired to direct the first two episodes at the end of the month.[34] In August 2021, Wittrock said filming would begin at the end of the year or in early 2022.[35]
In April 2022,Discovery, Inc. and Warner Bros.' parent companyWarnerMedia merged to becomeWarner Bros. Discovery (WBD), led by president and CEODavid Zaslav. The new company was expected to restructureDC Entertainment and Zaslav began searching for an equivalent toMarvel Studios presidentKevin Feige to lead the new subsidiary.[36] In June, Irvine said there was no scheduled start date for filming the series and the production was working on "getting all the stars to align".[37] A month later, the series was reaffirmed to be in development despite the cancellation of other HBO Max and DC projects by WBD.[38] In October 2022, Grahame-Smith was revealed to have left the series, which was being redeveloped to focus on John Stewart.[39]James Gunn andPeter Safran were announced as the co-chairs and co-CEOs of the newly formedDC Studios at the end of that month.[40] A week after starting their new roles, the pair had begun developing an eight-to-ten-year plan for a newDC Universe (DCU) that would be a "soft reboot" of the DCEU.[41][42][43]
Gunn said in December 2022 thatGreen Lantern characters would be an important part of the new DCU.[44] On January 31, he and Safran unveiled the first projects from their DCU slate, which begins withChapter One: Gods and Monsters. The third television series in the slate wasLanterns, a new iteration of the long-in-development Green Lantern series. This version features the two best-known Green Lanterns,Hal Jordan andJohn Stewart, and Safran said it would be an Earth-baseddetective story rather than thespace opera that Berlanti had envisioned. He said the series would be an "HBO-quality event" in the style ofcrime drama seriesTrue Detective (2014–present),[45] andspy thriller seriesSlow Horses (2022–present).[1] The mystery that Jordan and Stewart investigate leads into the main storyline for the DCU, so the series was an important project for Gunn and Safran.[45]
Damon Lindelof was consulting on the series as a producer by January 2024, when it was said to be a priority project for the streaming serviceMax, the successor to HBO Max.[46][47] The following month, Chris Mundy was reported to be serving asshowrunner whileTom King, a member of the DC Studios writers' room, was also attached as a producer.[47] Gunn confirmed the involvement of Mundy, King, and Lindelof in May 2024.[3] King had originallypitched the concept for the series and Mundy was hired by Gunn and Safran based on his work on the crime dramaOzark (2017–2022) as well as thefourth season ofTrue Detective (2024). Mundy and King began developing the series together and enlisted Lindelof, who created the DC Comics–based limited seriesWatchmen (2019). Lindelof agreed to join because of his love forOzark and King's comic books.[1] Mundy, Lindelof, and King are credited as the series's creators.[18]
The series received an eight-episode straight-to-series order from Max's corporate sibling channelHBO in June 2024, when Mundy was confirmed as showrunner and executive producer.[48][49] The move to HBO was made after WBD decided to shift many of its planned big-budget Max series based on their own intellectual property to be HBO originals instead;Lanterns was expected to still stream on Max in addition to airing on HBO.[50] DC Studios was meeting with possible directors for the series'pilot by September, includingStephen Williams who worked with Lindelof onWatchmen.[51]James Hawes, who directed the first season ofSlow Horses, was hired to direct the first two episodes ofLanterns and serve as an executive producer the next month.[2] In February 2025, Williams was confirmed to be directing for the series, alongsideGeeta Vasant Patel andAlik Sakharov,[1] while Ron Schmidt joined as an executive producer the following month.[18] Safran said the series could continue beyond the first season.[52] Mundy said it would stand alone from other DC Studios projects and was designed to tell a complete story, but he hoped that it could expand to have "many seasons".[1]
Mundy, King, and Lindelof had written the pilot script andseries bible forLanterns by the end of May 2024, when a full writers' room was being put together for the series. Justin Britt-Gibson, Breannah Gibson, andVanessa Baden are also writers on the series.[3] They were present on-set to answer questions regarding comic book history, and instructed the actors to have a holistic understanding of Jordan and Stewart's characters rather than reading comics from a specific time period.[7] Britt-Gibson previously worked with Lindelof on the script foran untitledStar Wars film.[53] Writing for the series was completed by the start of filming in February 2025.[1]
The series does not adapt any specific storylines from the comics, but Mundy said it is "steeped" in the Green Lantern comic book lore. The main characters have Green Lanternrings and the associated powers, and other aspects of the lore is seen or referenced in the series. However, the series is more grounded than the comics. Mundy said he was excited to create "something really grounded inside this big, amazing mythology. From the beginning, all we talked about was, how can we take all the things we loved about the source material and turn it into a layered, human HBO drama?" He wanted the series to be accessible to audiences unfamiliar with the comics' history, yet satisfying to those who were.[1] Mundy emphasized the series spanning across various timeframes and the presence of thebuddy cop elements, noting that Jordan and Stewart would act as "opposing forces."[7] Gunn was excited for the series to have a different tone from the first DCU film,Superman (2025), despite that project also featuring a Green Lantern inGuy Gardner.[52] Gunn also explained thatLanterns would feature the inter-dimensional prisonSalvation and the organizationCheckmate, after being introduced in theseason two finale ofPeacemaker (2025), and that the series would be "really important in setting up things" in the wider context of the DCU.[54][55]
In December 2022, Gunn stated actorRyan Reynolds would not reprise his role as Hal Jordan from theGreen Lantern film.[56]Nathan Fillion was cast as Guy Gardner forSuperman in July 2023,[57] and he was expected to co-star in the series by September 2024.[51][58] At that time,Josh Brolin was revealed to have been offered the role of Jordan at the end of August. The actor was looking for a new television role following the cancellation of his seriesOuter Range (2022–2024) and had previously played the DC Comics characterJonah Hex in the 2010 filmof the same name. Jordan was expected to be the gruff, older partner similar toDanny Glover'sRoger Murtaugh in theLethal Weapon films. DC Studios was looking to cast a younger, "fresh-faced" Black actor as John Stewart, who was expected to be in his 20s.[51][59]Matthew McConaughey andEwan McGregor were also in consideration for Jordan if a deal with Brolin could not be finalized.[60] Brolin passed on the role soon after his potential involvement was reported,[59] saying it "didn't work out",[61] and McConaughey was also not expected to be cast.[59]
Principal photography began during the week of February 17, 2025, inLos Angeles, California,[1][69] as well as atWarner Bros. Studios Burbank inBurbank, California,[70] under theworking titleLatitude.[71] Armando Salas serves as a cinematographer.[72] Filming was previously expected to occur inAtlanta, Georgia, from January to June.[59] Gunn and Safran worked with WBD to get the tax credits and studio deals necessary to move the production from Atlanta, where Gunn filmedSuperman, to Los Angeles. Safran said they were thrilled to be filming in the city and supporting locals following theJanuary 2025 Southern California wildfires.[69] Hawes said comparisons toTrue Detective were valid due to Mundy's writing and the buddy cop structure, butLanterns had more humor than that series. He compared it to films with "Americana heart" such asFargo (1996) andNo Country for Old Men (2007).[8] Mundy said Hawes's direction for the first two episodes captured the scope he was hoping for.[1]
Williams, Patel, and Sakharov directed additional episodes for the series.[1] Four episodes had been filmed by early May,[73] when Haweswrapped filming his episodes.[74] At that time, filming was about to begin on the third and fourth episodes. Ritter said that the story was "jumping all around".[73] Filming was more than halfway finished by mid-June,[11] and Thomsen said filming for his scenes concluded by the end of July.[75] Pierre confirmed that production had wrapped by at least that October. He also said that the filmmakers extensively discussed the characters' flaws on set, and noted that the characters "do their best to redeem themselves actively".[76]
Lanterns is scheduled to air on HBO and stream on HBO Max in mid-2026,[4] and will consist of eight episodes.[48] Gunn said in November 2024 that he intended for the series to be released around the same time as the filmSupergirl, which was scheduled for release in June 2026.[78] In February 2025, Gunn and Safran stated that they could "safely" say the series would premiere in early 2026.[79] However, Aaron Couch and Borys Kit ofThe Hollywood Reporter reported in October 2025 thatSupergirl would be the next DCU project released following thesecond season ofPeacemaker (2025) and subsequently clarified that they expectedLanterns to release afterSupergirl instead.[80] The following month,Lanterns was reaffirmed for an expected early 2026 debut in Warner Bros. Discovery's third quarter shareholder letter.[81][4] However, at the end of the month, HBO and HBO Max chairman and CEO Casey Bloys announced thatLanterns would premiere at the "end of summer" 2026.[4] It will be part of the DCU's Chapter One: Gods and Monsters.[45]
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