Damon Lindelof apologizes for LANTERNS joke after Grant Morrison criticism

In an Instagram post, Lanterns co-creator Damon Lindelof has apologized for comments he made last year on the comedy podcast Lovett or Leave It, after drawing the ire of longtime DC Comics writer Grant Morrison. On the podcast, Lindelof quipped the upcoming Green Lantern series he created with Chris Mundy and Tom King was “titled Lanterns, because we all agreed that the ‘Green’ was stupid, so now it’s just Lanterns.”

On their Substack newsletter, Morrison wrote, “Why does a writer attach himself to this kind of narrative if he thinks it’s fundamentally ‘stupid’? You don’t hand CSI scripts to patronizing writers who condemn forensics experts and their haircuts as ‘stupid’, so why hire people who are ashamed and in denial about the comic book material they’ve been assigned to develop? Why don’t they turn down jobs they’re not suited for?”

They elaborate, “It’s not like he needs the money, and Lindelof has proven that he can come up with his own ideas. What is this jockish dismissal of superhero conventions intended to prove anyway? Does Lindelof imagine it makes him seem less nerdy? It’s a bit too late for that, so what’s it all about? The only people who give a fuck about the Lanterns TV series are Green Lantern fans. Why alienate them at the start? That feels more like ‘stupid’.”

Lindelof states, “I have upset Grant Morrison, which means I have now pissed off MOST of the brilliant British/Scottish comics writers that I grew up idolizing” (referencing Watchmen co-creator Alan Moore, who notoriously refuses to have anything to do with adaptations of his work, like Lindelof’s acclaimed sequel to the comic.) “To quote the bard (Otis Redding), this is nobody’s fault but mine. I made a dumb joke on a comedy podcast. I’m not going to bob and weave about context, the joke was dumb, the fandom is not. I owe them an explanation and a genuine reflection of my actual feelings.”

He continues, saying, “The very first time I appeared on a ComicCon panel was for the Lost pilot, back in the summer of 2004. I wore my favorite T-shirt as I had long grown out of my favorite underoos, those being the uniform of Hal Jordan, Green Lantern of Sector 2814. For a quiet, uncoordinated kid, there was nothing cooler than a hero whose superpower was his imagination. And green is not stupid, it is my lifelong favorite color and I have a questionnaire that I filled out in third grade to prove it. Green is fucking awesome.”

He concludes, writing, “More importantly, it would be a betrayal to everyone I worked for and alongside to say anything other than I was absolutely honored to be a part of the team that manifested the incredible construct that is Lanterns… because it was. I was sloppy and careless with my words, ironic considering I care so much about Hal, John and the entire Corps. I can and will do better to be worthy of the oath… until then, I’ll let the show speak for itself and I can’t wait for you all to hear what it has to say.”

In the comments on Lindelof’s post, Nathan Fillion, who portrays DC Studios’ version of the Green Lantern Guy Gardner, responded, “The joke was funny. No harm, no foul! Keep up the great work, we appreciate you!” DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn simply replied with a green heart symbol. Morrison had previously praised Gunn’s Superman film, stating “it became the closest to capturing what [the character] feels like.”

Lanterns, a TV-MA show that follows Green Lantern John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) being mentored by Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) while they investigate a murder in the countryside, will premiere on HBO in August. Pierre will reprise the role in the Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow next year.