James Gunn’s New HBO Series Introduces Green Lantern’s Archnemesis In Official DCU Trailer
The next adventure in the DC Universe will bring two of the most iconic heroes in the comic canon to life.
The Green Lantern Corps was introduced through the DCU’s Chapter 1: “Gods and Monsters” slate in 2025 in James Gunn’s Superman movie, starting with Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner. However, that is just the beginning, as HBO is about to explore the iconic mythology in greater depth.
The Lanterns TV show is less than a month away from its big HBO premiere, and as San Diego Comic-Con 2026 is underway, with ScreenRant in attendance, DC Studios released the final trailer for the superhero drama, which will introduce DC’s Manhunters into the franchise. Check it out below:
The footage shows more of the powers that come with being a Green Lantern, while also shedding light on the villains that they will be facing in Lanterns season 1. While their faces aren’t fully shown, John asks Hal about the Manhunters, leading Kyle Chandler’s character to wonder how he knows about them.
It has also been confirmed that all eight episodes will now drop all at once instead of doing weekly releases. Several exclusive SDCC clips were also showcased at the Hall H presentation. The following footage was previewed:
Clip 1: Hal is training John, the car bit from the trailers where he gives John the ring and jumps out the car. John saves himself by using the ring with “bubblewrap.” John finds Hal at a taco stand, where Hal is being getting celeb treatment from civilians — Hal is popular.
Clip 2: Hal is interrogating a man, who (through Hal’s prodding) revealed to be an alien hiding among humanity with some mysterious purpose. John and the main cop are watching and commenting about Hal. He reveals he has a bomb in his spine. After he angers Hal and gets him to attack him, the alien sets off the bomb. Hal is able to contain the explosion but it still does serious damage to the building.
Clip 3: A flashback explores John’s time as a Marine sniper, as he receives a secret mission. After meeting up with his superior officer at an Outback Steakhouse, who tells John he has “an impeccable” kill record, Aaron Pierre’s character is instructed to take out a target who is “impossible to track.” The clip sees John parachuting out of a plane during stormy weather as he crashes through several trees before landing in water.
Clip 4: Hal is picking a fight at a bar to go to jail so he can interrogate the person he thinks is an alien (likely the second clip). He tells John to not involve himself and leaves him the ring. John ends up chatting with Zoey, where he explains there is only one Lantern and he’s training as backup.
Clip 5: Hal goes to see Sinestro in prison. The Emerald Knight goes to confront his former mentor, who has heard about John. Hal returns back to Earth, where a confrontation happens between the two heroes, as John demands to have the ring. The scene ends with a red light.
Another DC character was also revealed at Hall H, as Laura Linney’s mystery character was confirmed to be one of the Guardians of the Universe. Fillion’s Guy Gardner will also be part of the Lanterns show, bringing the three iconic heroes together for the first time in live-action.
The DCU already has plans for John and Guy after 2026, as both of them will be back in Gunn’s Man of Tomorrow movie, which is currently in production. However, whether or not the HBO drama will do any setup for the 2027 installment remains to be seen.
Sector 2814 · Ring Active How Well Do You Know Lanterns? “In brightest day, in blackest night…”
💍The RingPowered by will
🔦The Corps3,600 sectors
🌌OaThe Guardians
👮Earth BeatSector 2814
⚠Yellow PerilThe fear entity
01
Lanterns is one of the tentpole TV series launching James Gunn and Peter Safran’s rebooted DC Universe. On which streaming platform does it air?
✓ Correct! HBO Max — Warner Bros. Discovery’s flagship streamer and the natural home for DCU prestige TV alongside Peacemaker and The Penguin. Lanterns is positioned as the DCU’s high-end serialised drama counterpart to Gunn’s theatrical Superman relaunch, sharing canon with the films. Disney+ runs Marvel; Netflix and Apple are rival streamers.
✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is HBO Max. Netflix has had various superhero shows but not DCU. Disney+ is Marvel’s home. Apple TV+ doesn’t house DC. HBO Max is Warner Bros. Discovery’s streamer and the TV home of the Gunn/Safran DCU — Lanterns joins Peacemaker and upcoming DCU series there.
02
Unlike most Green Lantern adaptations, Lanterns pairs two Earth-based ring-bearers in a buddy-cop framework — a weathered veteran and a newer recruit partnered together on Sector 2814 duty. Which two Lanterns lead the show?
✓ Correct! Hal Jordan and John Stewart — two of the most beloved Earth-assigned Lanterns — are paired as the show’s central duo. Hal is the hot-shot test-pilot veteran, John the disciplined ex-Marine architect with a sharper sense of justice. The pairing draws heavily from the Geoff Johns comics era and lets the show explore two very different philosophies of what a Green Lantern should be.
✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is Hal Jordan and John Stewart. Guy Gardner (played by Nathan Fillion) is a separate DCU character who appears in the 2025 Superman film. Kyle Rayner is a beloved Lantern but not part of this show. The Lanterns duo is the Hal/John pairing — a pointedly contrasting veteran and recruit on Sector 2814 duty together.
03
The role of Hal Jordan — the weathered, test-pilot-turned-space-cop original Earth Lantern — went to a veteran actor best known as Coach Eric Taylor on Friday Night Lights and for leading Bloodline. Who plays Hal?
✓ Correct! Kyle Chandler — Emmy winner for Friday Night Lights, star of Bloodline, and part of the Monsterverse (Godzilla: King of the Monsters) — plays an older, weathered Hal Jordan. James Gunn wanted a seasoned, grounded presence rather than a rookie. Ryan Reynolds played Hal in 2011’s widely-mocked Green Lantern film (a different continuity); Nathan Fillion plays Guy Gardner in the 2025 Superman film.
✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is Kyle Chandler. Ryan Reynolds’ Hal was the 2011 film (a separate, mostly-disowned continuity). Nathan Fillion plays Guy Gardner in the 2025 Superman film — not Hal. Chris Pine isn’t in the DCU. Chandler’s weathered, Friday-Night-Lights gravitas is exactly the mature Hal energy Gunn wanted for the show.
04
John Stewart — ex-Marine sniper, architect, and one of DC’s most iconic Black heroes — is played by a British actor who broke out in Barry Jenkins’ The Underground Railroad and Jeremy Saulnier’s Rebel Ridge. Who is he?
✓ Correct! Aaron Pierre — the British actor who earned raves as Caesar in The Underground Railroad (2021) and carried Netflix’s Rebel Ridge (2024) with a performance frequently compared to early Denzel Washington. Gunn called his casting “a no-brainer.” Winston Duke, Sterling K. Brown and John Boyega are all great actors but not in the role.
✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is Aaron Pierre. Winston Duke is M’Baku in the Marvel universe. Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us, American Fiction) is Marvel-adjacent too. John Boyega famously played Finn in Star Wars. Pierre’s Rebel Ridge performance — playing a disciplined ex-Marine — is essentially his audition for John Stewart, and Gunn’s team cast him off it.
05
James Gunn has repeatedly pitched Lanterns as a grounded, small-town murder-mystery thriller — where the space-cop rings are secondary to a detective case on Earth. Which acclaimed HBO series is his go-to tonal comparison?
✓ Correct! Gunn has explicitly called Lanterns his “True Detective in the DCU” — a slow-burn, atmospheric, character-driven case with superhero elements layered over a grounded murder mystery. Showrunner Chris Mundy actually did True Detective: Night Country duties, bringing that DNA directly. Watchmen (Damon Lindelof) was also cited, and Lindelof has consulting writer credits, but True Detective is the primary comp.
✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is True Detective. Gunn has named it as the explicit tonal blueprint — a slow-burn, character-driven murder mystery with superhero elements layered over it. Chris Mundy, the show’s runner, worked on True Detective: Night Country, bringing the DNA directly. Watchmen was a secondary comp (Damon Lindelof consults), but True Detective is the primary pitch.
06
When James Gunn and Peter Safran took over as DC Studios co-CEOs in 2022, they announced a rebooted slate of interconnected films and TV shows — with Lanterns among the launch titles. What is this first DCU phase officially called?
✓ Correct! Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters — announced in January 2023 as the Gunn/Safran DCU’s opening slate. It includes Superman (2025), The Authority, Supergirl, The Brave and the Bold, Paradise Lost, Waller, Creature Commandos, and of course Lanterns. Crisis on Infinite Earths is a comics event; Flashpoint and Dark Knights are other DC storylines, not the chapter branding.
✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters. Crisis on Infinite Earths is a famous DC comics crossover event (and Arrowverse crossover) but not a DCU chapter label. Flashpoint was referenced in The Flash (2023) from the now-defunct DCEU. The Gunn/Safran era officially named its launch phase Gods and Monsters — Superman 2025, Lanterns, and related titles.
07
Green Lanterns serve the Guardians of the Universe, an ancient race who created the Corps’ 3,600-sector peacekeeping force and charge the Lantern rings from a central Power Battery on their home planet. What is the Guardians’ homeworld called?
✓ Correct! Oa — the small blue-skinned Guardians’ home at the centre of the universe. It houses the Central Power Battery from which all Green Lantern rings draw their energy, and serves as the Corps’ academy and operational base. Krypton is Superman’s destroyed homeworld; Themyscira is Wonder Woman’s hidden Amazon island; Apokolips is Darkseid’s hellscape.
✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is Oa. Krypton is Superman’s homeworld. Themyscira is Paradise Island where Wonder Woman was raised. Apokolips is Darkseid’s grim world in the Fourth World mythos. Oa is specifically the Guardians of the Universe’s planet — home to the Central Power Battery that fuels every Green Lantern ring in all 3,600 sectors.
08
Every Green Lantern recites the same oath when charging their ring — a four-line rhyming incantation that’s become one of the most famous pieces of verse in comic-book history. How does it famously begin?
✓ Correct! “In brightest day, in blackest night / No evil shall escape my sight / Let those who worship evil’s might / Beware my power — Green Lantern’s light!” The oath dates back to 1940’s All-American Comics #16, was refined through the Silver Age, and is considered one of DC’s most sacred bits of verse. Every canonical adaptation includes some version of it.
✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is “In brightest day, in blackest night…” The full oath: “No evil shall escape my sight / Let those who worship evil’s might / Beware my power — Green Lantern’s light!” It’s been canon since 1940 and remains one of comics’ most instantly recognisable pieces of verse — recited in every major Green Lantern adaptation.
Ring Depowered · Report to Oa Your Corps Rank
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Honor Guard veteran — or still in Corps training?
It’s unknown right now if Lanterns will have more than one season, but depending on its success, the series could go on for several seasons, exploring various corners of the iconic mythos. The sci-fi adventure was created by Chris Mundy, who serves as the showrunner, while Tom King and Damon Lindelof worked on it as executive producers.
