Warner Bros. Television and DC Studios’ Green Lantern show, Lanterns, finally has the go-ahead to move forward at HBO.
The straight-to-series order was announced today, giving its team the green light it needs to deliver eight episodes based on DC will-powered heroes. It already has proven HBO talent behind it, too, including Chris Mundy (True Detective: Night Country, Ozark), who will serve as showrunner and executive producer. Watchmen, The Leftovers, and Lost leader Damon Lindelof, and comic book legend Tom King, will serve as executive producers while also co-writing the series with Mundy.
HBO has released an official logline for Lanterns: “The series follows new recruit John Stewart and Lantern legend Hal Jordan, two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.”
Lanterns will introduce fan-favorite DC heroes into James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC Universe (DCU) when it eventually premieres. Further details on its story are still being kept under wraps.
“We’re thrilled to bring this seminal DC title to HBO with Chris, Damon and Tom at the helm,” co-CEOs Gunn and Safran said in a joint statement. “John Stewart and Hal Jordan are two of DC’s most compelling characters, and LANTERNS brings them to life in an original detective story that is a foundational part of the unified DCU we’re launching next summer with ‘Superman.’”
Gunn first teased Lanterns when plotting out the road ahead for the DCU’s first chapter, Gods and Monsters. At the time, he described the Green Lantern show as a “True Detective-type mystery” that involves an ancient horror on Earth.
Lanterns is just lighting its torch, so there’s no word on a release date yet. We do at least know that the DCU will properly take off when Superman flies into the theaters on July 11, 2025. The film will see the introduction of more than just David Corenswet’s version of the Man of Steel, though, as other major DC characters like Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), and Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi) are also set to make appearances. Gunn’s superhero movie will even introduce audiences to a live-action Green Lantern in the form of Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
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