Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Lanterns episode 8
Lanterns season 1 leaves the DCU’s first major Green Lantern story with plenty of unanswered questions. As such, there is now plenty of room for speculation about what might be next for Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart and what the future may hold.
At the time of writing, Lanterns season 2 has not yet been officially confirmed, despite reports that a writers’ room has been formed to explore future storylines. Regardless, it’s already been confirmed that John Stewart will make an appearance in 2027’s Man of Tomorrow from director and DC Studios head James Gunn. This confirms that there is indeed a planned future for the DCU’s newest Green Lantern.
By the ending of Lanterns episode 8, there are plenty of questions and key mysteries in need of answering. For example, Sinestro is still alive and out of prison, and John’s new status as an independent Green Lantern has just begun. Keeping that in mind, here are some of our biggest and most exciting questions following Lanterns’ season finale on HBO Max.
How Was Sinestro Planning To Resurrect Hal Jordan?
One of the biggest unanswered questions involves Hal Jordan’s fate and whether it can actually be undone. Having been shot and killed by Sheriff Kane after discovering that her son Noah was secretly a second Manhunter, the legacy of Hal Jordan came to an untimely end, leaving John Stewart to eventually inherit his ring and become the DCU’s next Green Lantern (albeit on his own terms).
However, John’s confrontation with Sinestro saw Hal’s former mentor claiming that he could bring Hal back to life. All John had to do was get him off the dead alien world and the island Noah marooned him on after breaking him out of his intergalactic prison to forge him a lantern. That said, Sinestro never explained how he intended to bring Hal back from the dead, leaving us with the fascinating possibility that he could do so in the future, perhaps seeking to bring his protégé back in hopes of a new ally.
Interestingly, there is a major precedent for a Hal Jordan resurrection in the comics, as seen at the start of Geoff John’s beloved Green Lantern run with Green Lantern: Rebirth, which famously brought Hal back to life after his soul was freed from both the fear entity Parallax and the Spectre, allowing it to finally returned to his preserved body. At any rate, an attempt to raise Hal from the dead could lead to some fascinating stakes between John and Sinestro in the hoped-for Lanterns season 2.
What Does John Stewart’s Uniform Look Like?
John finally becomes a Green Lantern on his own terms at the end of Lanterns episode 8, charging his newly forged lantern with his own new oath before taking flight for the very first time. However, we don’t actually see him wearing a Green Lantern uniform by the season finale’s end. This feels incredibly intentional, and it’s more than likely that John will debut an official uniform in 2027’s Man of Tomorrow. After all, what better way to cement his new superhero status with a brand-new suit than to debut it in a movie featuring several other heroes like Superman?
In the comics, John’s most well-known uniform has green across the upper torso, shoulders, and arms, with the rest being predominantly black. With any luck, his DCU uniform will follow “suit” (pun very much intended).
Does John Stewart’s New Lantern Have Any Side Effects?
John’s newly forged lantern is far from standard issue, having been created by Sinestro on a world saturated with a lingering fear compound in the air and water. This compound is what accounts for the golden-yellow cracks running across the lantern’s surface. Without a doubt, it’s a very fascinating detail, especially when you consider the comics where power rings originally had a “yellow impurity” issue where they wouldn’t work on anything colored yellow, the result of the fear entity Parallax having been locked within Oa’s Central Power Battery.
As such, the yellow corruption of “fear” on John’s lantern does feel like a visual nod to that original comicbook lore, while also bringing up the question of whether John might experience any side effects by charging his power ring with a lantern that was literally made on a world of fear. Ultimately, it could just be signifying the Halogram’s final words of advice to John: “Don’t be afraid of being afraid.” That said, it would be very interesting if John had to contend with unique challenges using a corrupted lantern, perhaps the cost of being a more independent and unsanctioned Green Lantern in the DCU.
Will Sinestro Build His Own Corps In The DCU?
Sinestro’s undetermined fate might be the biggest setup for a potential Lanterns season 2. After John’s encounter with the former Lantern, Sinestro is left stranded on the dead alien fear world where he forged the lantern. Combined with Sinestro’s belief in Lanterns episode 8 that “Fear, when harnessed correctly, can be the most powerful force in the universe”, there really is no better place for the Sinestro Corps to be born in the DCU.
In the comics, Sinestro eventually creates his own Corps of yellow-ring-wielding soldiers, using the yellow light of fear as the opposing force to the Green Lanterns’ green light of willpower. Having already forged a lantern, one could easily see Sinestro continuing to experiment and lay the foundations for his very own corps. After the Sinestro Corps was teased in the post-credits scene of 2011’s Green Lantern (but never paid off), my fingers are certainly crossed for Lanterns season 2 and Sinestro’s return, hopefully with some new followers and power rings.
Who Was The “Monster” In Gotham?
Lanterns repeatedly referenced the mysterious “monster in Gotham” responsible for killing Sheriff Kerry Kane’s father for ratting on him before sending people after Kerry herself, explaining how Kane first came to Rushville and ending up owing Zoe Macon’s Manhunter (having saved her from the Gotham villain’s men).
Unfortunately, the identity of the figure is never revealed, leaving plenty of room for speculation. Most likely some sort of crime boss, some good guesses might include Penguin, Rupert Thorne (who was featured in Creature Commandos), or Black Mask, all of whom would fit comfortably into the criminal underworld surrounding Gotham. However, Black Mask is particularly interesting seeing how a Janus Cosmetics storefront (Roman Sionis’ failed company in the comics) appeared in the background of the abandoned mall in Lanterns episode 3.
What Will Happen To Noah After Lanterns Episode 8?
By the finale’s end, John seemed confident that Noah Macon can overcome the Manhunter programming trying to influence him, just as John himself overcame the programming and expectations imposed upon him to become a Green Lantern ever since he was a child.
However, Noah did indicate to John that his programming had already influenced his ambitions, giving him ideas not his own, like using his football career as a path toward a political career, giving him exactly the kind of influence and power a Manhunter could use. While it does seem doubtful that a second season of Lanterns would revisit Rushville or Noah Macon, the door is technically open if John ends up being proven wrong about Noah.
Will Guy Gardner Still Be Part Of The Justice Gang?
The new terms set by John Stewart effectively put him as the Green Lantern protecting Earth while Guy will protect the stars and the wider jurisdiction of Sector 2814. It’s an interesting division of labor justifying two active Green Lanterns in the DCU, though it does raise the question about Guy’s established role with the Justice Gang.
If John Stewart is now Earth’s primary Green Lantern, does that mean Guy Gardner is effectively being replaced within the superhero team that first debuted in 2025’s Superman? Without a doubt, we will most likely get our answer in 2027’s Man of Tomorrow with both Guy and John set to appear in the upcoming movie.
Will The Guardians Accept John’s New Green Lantern Status?
Perhaps the most important question is whether the Guardians of Oa will actually allow John to operate independently like he’s demanded at the end of this new finale. On the one hand, John’s message to Guy indicates that if the Guardians try to stop him, he’ll expose the truth about their role in creating the genocidal Manhunters.
Likewise, the Guardians did want John to be a Lantern in the first place, though Stewart’s chosen new status quo operating as an independent Green Lantern no doubt represents a major act of defiance to their authority. Whether they actually accept John’s terms could be a solid foundation for the next chapter of John’s story (hopefully in Lanterns season 2).
All episodes of Lanterns are now streaming on HBO Max from DC Studios.
- Release Date
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August 16, 2026
- Network
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HBO
- Showrunner
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Chris Mundy
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Aaron Pierre
John Stewart
