DC Studios head honcho James Gunn teased on social media that the first Lanterns teaser trailer would be arriving tomorrow. For whatever reason, the teaser manifested early giving fans a first look at the upcoming HBO Max original series.
Starring Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre as John Stewart, two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.
As well as Chandler and Pierre the show will feature Nathan Fillion repising his role of Guy Gardner; Kelly Macdonald as Sheriff Kelly; Garret Dillahunt as cowboy William Macon; Poorna Jagannathan as John’s love interest Zoe; and Ulrich Thomsen as Hal’s corrupt mentor Sinestro.
Further cast members include Nicole Ari Parker and Sherman Augustus as John’s parents (who’ll be played in flashback by Jasmine Cephas Jones and J. Alphonse Nicholson); Jason Ritter as Macon’s son Billy; and Paul Ben-Victor as vengeful alien Antaan. Laura Linney and Paula Patton have also been reportedly cast in unnamed roles.
After the recent Superman was praised for replicating the feeling of a comic book, some may be a tad disappointed by the more grounded feel and tone of a TV series involving the Green Lantern Corps. However, we do get some glimpses of the GL costume/uniform. Likewise, the Lanterns teaser trailer does reference a squirrel member of the GLC. So here’s hoping we get to see either Chip or B’dg make an appearance.
According to the official press release, the Lanterns pilot is co-written by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King, who are co-creators for the series. Mundy serves as showrunner. The first two episodes are directed by James Hawes, with Stephen Williams, Geeta Vasant Patel and Alik Sakharov also tapped to direct. The series is executive produced by Mundy, Lindelof, James Gunn, Peter Safran, King, Ron Schmidt, and Hawes. Based on the DC comic characters from “Green Lantern.”
Lanterns will consist of eight episodes, and premiere on HBO Max this August.
I know a lot of people are like, “Not my Green Lantern!,” but as you point out, this is in the spirit of the O’Neil and Adams run, and more crucially for the general audience, it’s different, it’s unexpected, it’s intriguing, much like Wonder Man was. So most people are likely to think, “This is nothing like the godawful movie, so it might be good.”