Grounding the Green Lantern

As part of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s expanded DC Universe, a more grounded take on the Green Lantern comics may surprise audiences who associate the character with the Ryan Reynolds film that received poor reviews back in 2011.

The Green Lantern’s story is a century old, and now co-creators Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King are carrying that baton forward. However, they also acknowledge the audience’s hunger for something original and relevant, with real emotional stakes.

‘Lanterns’ follows Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) as he takes John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) under his wing as a backup. As the Green Lantern, Hal has the power to create material items through his ring and acts as an intergalactic space officer. The show takes a dark turn after a series of unexplainable deaths draw Hal and John to a small town in Nebraska.

King, a comic book writer, brings a wealth of experience to the show, while Lindelof, who created the ‘Watchmen’ TV series, is well-versed in grounded storytelling. Mundy, the showrunner of ‘Ozark,’ is new to the comic book world.

‘I know that if Damon didn’t work on this show, I would have used ‘Watchmen’ as a real touchstone of how you do a show and have it be emotional and about real people, while also honoring the comic book part of it,’ Mundy said.

‘Watchmen’ shares similarities with ‘Lanterns’ in its grounded approach and exploration of themes such as race, colonization, and justice. King explained how there’s a wonderful coincidental parallel with comics that ‘Watchmen’ set the standard for a generation of comic book writers who were like, ‘Oh, we can talk about those themes using superheroes!’

Stars Weigh in on the Show

Actress Poorna Jagannathan, who plays the conniving and mysterious Zoe, hopes that shows like ‘Lanterns’ invite more actors into the DCU who don’t read comic books.

‘I thought I’d be with a green screen wearing a suit, talking to no one at all, just into the abyss,’ Jagannathan said. ‘I hesitated because I didn’t know this world at all. I felt like I didn’t belong, actually. I felt bad that I was so ignorant about it.’

‘I don’t think that only this universe will be affected by it; I think every show in the genre will be affected by what happened on ‘Lanterns,” she added. ‘It’ll be a blueprint on how to take something big and keep it with a beating heart.’

Lindelof emphasized that navigating fandom expectations is crucial. ‘The one thing that fans hate more than being listened to is fan service and that sort of idea of doing something just to placate them. And so I do think that fandom is not a monolith,’ he said.

‘There are some fans who want more risky, edgy sort of revisionist storytelling inside of these adaptations, and some fans who are just basically like, ‘Give me what I love.’

The Future of the DCU

As the DCU continues to expand and test the waters of audiences, ‘Lanterns’ could determine if early conversations about Season 2 turn into an official renewal.

The show’s success or failure may also signal what’s to come for the newly revamped DCU. Lindelof emphasized the importance of creative voices being at the forefront. ‘You can’t go out of bounds in terms of storylines that James and Peter want to do,’ he said. ‘But artistically, they’re giving us a lot of freedom to tell the story how we want.’

‘Lanterns’ premieres Sunday, Aug. 16 on HBO Max.