The HBO series Lanterns is taking some of DC Comics’ most extensive and storied lore (that of the Green Lantern Corps and its heroic human officers) and giving it a bold new reinvention for the new DC Universe franchise. As Lanterns gets deep into production, the first wave of promotional materials is being released to the public – including the first image of series stars Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre, as the Green Lanterns for the Earth sector, Hal Jordan and Jon Stewart (respectively).
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While the first image of Chandler and Pierre was pretty mundane (two men dressed like off-duty cops out for a stroll along a remote highway road), it did have one significant feature: the first good look at the design of Hal Jordan’s iconic power ring. And boy does it look different.
As you can see above, Lanterns is going with a different aesthetic for Hal Jordan’s power ring – trading the emerald design of the comics for a metallic ring with a green core for its centerpiece. No doubt this is what Hal’s ring looks like when he’s in his “civilian” guise – but it will almost certainly change when Hal has to go into action.
[RELATED: Lanterns‘ Version of Green Lantern Will Be Very Different Than Superman’s]
This Is the Second Green Lantern Power Ring We’ve Seen in the DCU
In fact, it’s not even a maybe that this ring will go “full green” when Hal actually uses it: we’ve already seen it happen. The first trailer for James Gunn’s Superman revealed the first look at another Green Lantern in the DCU using his ring: Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), the more eccentric and impetuous member of Earth’s Green Lanterns. The amount of light that comes blasting out of Guy’s ring in the brief footage we see speaks to the fact that DC Studios head James Gunn and Co. are making sure the power rings are depicted as the kind of powerful cosmic artifacts they truly are.
However, the other side of that coin is finding the trick to depicting those ‘powerful cosmic artifacts’ on the budget of a streaming series. A real prop ring and a coin-sized CGI lighting effect (or actual battery-powered light in the prop ring) is much more doable. Right now, based on this first image and other promotional materials (like the show’s official synopses) it seems like Lanterns will spend a significant portion of its screen time on Earth, with Chandler and Pierre doing an investigation into a threat that will almost certainly fully manifest later in proper blockbuster film. So fans may want to temper expectations now when it comes to the idea of seeing wild power ring antics unfolding during every episode of the show.
The cast of Lanterns includes Ulrich Thomsen (The Blacklist) as former Green Lantern Sinestro, along with Kelly MacDonald as Sheriff Kerry (Hal Jordan’s love interest), Garret Dillahunt as William Macon (possibly DC villain Black Hand), and Poorna Jagannathan as Zoe. Chris Mundy (Ozark, True Detective: Night Country) is the showrunner, with Mundy co-writing alongside Damon Lindelof (Lost, HBO’s Watchmen), and DC comic writer Tom King (Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow).
Lanterns is currently in production for release on HBO and Max streaming.
