Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan Arrives in HBO's 'Lanterns' — a Green Lantern Crime Drama Built on a Bad Movie's Ashes
HBO's Lanterns premieres this Sunday, and it brings a Green Lantern story nobody saw coming: two intergalactic cops investigating a murder in Nebraska.
Emmy winner Kyle Chandler stars as Hal Jordan, a veteran Green Lantern — the cosmic peacekeepers powered by rings that conjure anything the wearer can imagine. Aaron Pierre plays John Stewart, Jordan's protégé, a new recruit learning the ropes. Together they hit the backroads of America to unravel a mystery with extraterrestrial ties, as DC's own blog describes it (DC.com).
The show has drawn early comparisons to True Detective, and that is no accident. Co-creator Tom King pitched Lanterns as a cop story following the success of True Detective and Mare of Easttown, both small-town crime dramas that turned detective work into prestige television. King, sharing co-creator credit with Damon Lindelof (Watchmen, The Leftovers) and Chris Mundy (Ozark), told the L.A. premiere audience he has "a soft spot" for the 2011 Green Lantern film but wanted to take its big, cosmic energy and turn it into a character study (The Hollywood Reporter).
That 2011 film, starring Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan, famously bombed at the box office. Reynolds played the character fifteen years before Chandler's casting. Asked about following Reynolds in the role, Chandler kept it blunt: "I did my own thing" (The Hollywood Reporter).
Chandler almost did not take the part at all. He said he was drawn to Lanterns by the script, and that had someone only described the series to him he would not have had much interest. The role came to him after Josh Brolin was also in discussions; Brolin later said his "Green Lantern didn't work out" (Deadline). Variety first reported Chandler's casting in September 2024, with Deadline officially confirming it the following month (Variety; Deadline).
Pierre's path to the DC Universe was similarly winding. He was previously in the running to play Adam Warlock in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, a role that ultimately went to Will Poulter. Pierre's John Stewart will extend beyond Lanterns — he is set to appear in James Gunn's Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow (The Hollywood Reporter; Variety).
The series originated in a meeting with James Gunn and Peter Safran, the duo leading the revamped DC Universe. Inspired by Lindelof's Watchmen series for HBO, they told King they needed "a 9 o'clock HBO show for superheroes" (The Hollywood Reporter).
Trailers have already teased the wider Green Lantern mythology. The second teaser shows Hal Jordan using his ring to construct money and ends with Chandler reciting the Green Lantern Oath (DC.com). A separate trailer revealed Sinestro — the Lantern Corps' most famous villain — and included a cameo from Guy Gardner, another Green Lantern from the comics (Variety).
DC announced in August 2025 that Lanterns would be released on both HBO and HBO Max in 2026 (DC.com). HBO released the first official still of Chandler and Pierre in character on 7 August 2026 (HBO Max on Facebook).
For a character whose last live-action outing is remembered chiefly for disappointing, Lanterns takes a sharp turn — away from cosmic spectacle and toward a Nebraska murder case. The premiere this Sunday will show whether the gamble pays off.
