Among the reveals and announcements at the super-secret press meeting with James Gunn and Peter Safran, the co-heads of DC Studios, was an update on a DC project that has seen a number of development woes and challenges. A Green Lantern series was first announced back in 2019, but it faced years of rewrites, changing leadership, and a departing showrunner which forced the project into limbo. At the presser, Gunn and Safran revealed the title of the retooled Green Lantern series: Lanterns.

Safran confirmed the title of the series and also shared that it will star “two of our favorite Green Lanterns: Hal Jordan and John Stewart.” The series won’t be a regular superhero series, however, and it was compared to fellow HBO hit True Detective by Safran as the story will see the two members of the Lantern Corps taking part in a universe-shaping mystery. “It is more of a True Detective-type mystery, with our two Lanterns. [A] terrestrial based mystery,” said Safran, with Gunn continuing on to say that this series is what “Leads into the overall story that we’re telling throughout the different, different movies and television shows. And we find this Ancient Horror on Earth. And these guys are basically, you know, super cops on precinct Earth.”

When discussing how this show will weave into the films and other series, Safran pointed to how Peacemaker exists after many of the characters made their appearance in The Suicide Squad. “The story is going to weave back and forth between the films and the television shows[…] Peacemaker is a good example of how that works. And that’s what we’re going to do with this big overarching story that we’re telling.” This is in line with the previously confirmed statement from the pair that the DCU will be connected across TV, animation, and films.

The History of the Green Lantern Series

As previously mentioned, a live-action Green Lantern series has been in the plans at HBO Max for a while. First announced in 2019, Seth Grahame-Smith was slated to serve as showrunner and writer, before deciding to depart the project following several regime changes at all levels of the company from Warner Bros., HBO Max, and DC Comics.

When Grahame-Smith left, he had already written a full eight-episode season, which was set to feature Guy Gardner and Alan Scott, with Finn Wittrock and Jeremy Irvine cast in those respective roles. It was announced in October 2022 that the show was under redevelopment not too long after Gunn and Safran gained their new positions at DC Studios. We now know that the show will follow Hal Jordan and John Stewart, but no casting for the roles has been announced at this time.

via Collider