Lanterns First Look Image: Kyle Chandler & Aaron Pierre Are DC's Hal Jordan & John Stewart

Only days after DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter Safran provided an official update on the superhero franchise, Gunn has officially unveiled our first look at one of the most interesting productions currently in the pipeline: "Lanterns." Slated to hit HBO later this year, the series instantly landed at the top of our radars with the casting of Aaron Pierre as fan-favorite hero John Stewart and none other than Kyle Chandler as his older space-cop mentor, Hal Jordan. For those waiting an egregiously long time to see the Green Lantern Corps finally done proper justice in live action (with all due respect to any misguided souls trying to reclaim the 2011 Ryan Reynolds-starring "Green Lantern" film, of course), now might actually be your time to shine ... although, based on the actual still, you might have to wait just a little bit longer.

Since "Lanterns" remains quite a ways off from its debut, our first glimpse of the series is somewhat, uh, unremarkable. Gunn took to X (formerly and probably forever known as Twitter) to reveal the news that the series is currently in production and show off the star power at its disposal. For all those desperately hoping to see what Pierre and Chandler look like in regular street clothes and a prominent green ring on one of their fingers, well, we hope this lives up to expectations. For everyone else, we're still far too early in the process to see what the final visual effects will look like in order to bring those gloriously comic-booky outfits to life. That said, maybe some concept art would've been a more interesting choice?

Either way, you can check out the first official still from "Lanterns" below!

Don't say I didn't warn you. Our first look at "Lanterns" has arrived and the results are, well, rather perfunctory (aside from that chunky green ring on Hal Jordan's finger). In all fairness, James Gunn has previously described this series as in the same vein as "True Detective," hyping up its more grounded nature as essentially a cop show set on Earth that just so happens to involve the secretive Green Lantern Corps attempting to solve a murder mystery. If the collective star power of the two co-leads wasn't enough to get you on board, the show comes from creators Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King (yes, the comic book writer). As Gunn teased in his social media post:

Excited that #Lanterns is now in production. DC Studios' new show for @HBO and Max, from creators Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, & @TomKingTK, starring Kyle Chandler & Aaron Pierre, is something really special. @StreamOnMax @dcofficial pic.twitter.com/fODPG3MF1c

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) February 27, 2025

Excited that 'Lanterns' is now in production. DC Studios' new show for HBO and Max, from creators Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, & [Tom King], starring Kyle Chandler & Aaron Pierre, is something really special."

We're inclined to take Gunn at his word, of course, but it must be stated for the record that this still mostly just looks like a hypothetical version of "Rebel Ridge 2" (which, to be entirely fair, we'd also love to see). It'd be foolish to dismiss the sheer creative talent involved in this production, however, along with the studio's obvious motivation to get this property right for the first time in years. 

As much as our first official "Lanterns" still might leave something to be desired, at least Vanity Fair swooped in and saved the day with a whole bunch of new details timed to Gunn's tweet. In addition to confirming the Nebraska setting of the series ("There's been a murder in Nebraska" doesn't have the same ring as that scene from "The Office," but close enough), the article also explains how it will attempt to be the best of both worlds: a prestige HBO drama and a superhero series at once. As co-creator Chris Mundy explains:

"I was drawn by the challenge and fun of creating something really grounded inside this big, amazing mythology. From the beginning, all we talked about was, 'How can we take all the things we loved about the source material and turn it into a layered, human HBO drama?' Just the idea of trying to pull that off was exciting to me."

Alluding to both "True Detective" and "Slow Horses" as key sources of inspiration, Vanity Fair also clarifies that "Lanterns" will not be based on any specific comic book arc. In fact, Mundy goes on to describe how the story will explore "who these guys are when they're on the job and when they're out of uniform," which helps explain that first look image above. 

Per Variety, Ulrich Thomsen was recently cast in the role of classic Green Lantern villain Sinestro, whose "manipulative nature drives his enduring obsession with his former mentee, Hal Jordan." Mentor/mentee relationships seem to be a theme in the show, as Pierre's John Stewart will be a young, fresh recruit into the Corps who will be guided every step of the way by Chandler's Hal Stewart. Beyond that, we have only the official synopsis below to tide us over. Stay tuned to /Film for more updates as they come in.

The series follows new recruit John Stewart and Lantern legend Hal Jordan, two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.