“Green Lantern” Series a Go at HBO as DC Studios Locks in First Live-Action Show
At long last, the Green Lanterns will light a path on TV.
James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Studios has successfully gotten their first live-action series a pick-up at HBO, which has grabbed Lanterns for a straight-to-series order for an eight-episode opener. Lanterns will be led by showrunner Chris Mundy (True Detective: Night Country, Ozark).
Lanterns also boasts Watchmen and The Leftovers creator Damon Lindelof and Tom King (Supergirl) as executive producers and co-writers alongside Mundy. Warner Bros. TV, DC Studios, and HBO are producing, based on DC’s “Green Lantern” comic.
We’ve previously learned that Lanterns will follow two members of the Green Lantern Corps, Hal Jordan and John Stewart, in a story that finds these two intergalactic lawmen “drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland,” per the logline. This is precisely the type of two-hander that Safran had suggested when he described the series as similar in tone to HBO’s twisty noir detective series True Detective. Lanterns will be the first live-action series from Gunn and Safran’s initial slate, “Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters,” and will follow the animated series Creature Commandos, which is due in late 2024, and then the second season of Peacemaker, which Gunn created before he took over at DC Studios.
“We are elated to be reuniting with both Chris Mundy and Damon Lindelof as they partner with Tom for this fresh take on DC’s Green Lantern,” said Casey Bloys, chairman/CEO of HBO and Max Content. “As part of James and Peter’s vision for the DC Universe, this first new live-action series will mark an exciting new era.”
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Hal Jordan on screen—he was portrayed by Ryan Reynolds in the 2011 film Green Lantern. In the comics, Jordan’s a test pilot, while Stewart is a military veteran and one of DC’s first Black superheroes.
Gunn has already recruited a Green Lantern for the big screen—Nathan Fillion plays the Lantern Guy Gardner in Gunn’s upcoming Superman, which premieres on July 11, 2025.
“We’re thrilled to bring this seminal DC title to HBO with Chris, Damon, and Tom at the helm,” 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.”
For more on all things DC Studios, check out these stories:
James Gunn Reveals Another New “Superman” Image
James Gunn’s “Superman” Brings “Saturday Night Live” Alum Beck Bennett Aboard
James Gunn Taps “Watchmen” Creator Damon Lindelof to Join Green Lanterns Series for DC Studios
James Gunn’s “Superman” Coming to IMAX Next Summer
Featured image: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – AUGUST 02: James Gunn attends the Warner Bros. premiere of “The Suicide Squad” at Regency Village Theatre on August 02, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
