Lanterns just dropped its season one finale, and we believe it largely stuck the landing. The series, which was a grounded take on the Green Lantern comics mythology, won over critics and audiences alike. In fact, the series has averaged around 19 million viewers per episode, which is huge. Now, series co-creator Damon Lindelof, known for Watchmen, The Leftovers, and Lost, has revealed to Collider (via IGN) that there are “writers who are working on ideating on Season 2.” It seems, however, that neither Lindelof nor Tom King will have any involvement with a potential season 2.
I can only tell you that everybody in the Season 1 room, inclusive of the writers who are working on ideating on Season 2, felt like even though we knew that it was going to be emotionally devastating and/or disappointing and maybe even frustrating, that the worst possible schmuck-baity thing that we could do is show you a pilot where Hal Jordan was definitively dead, and then try to walk it back and say, ‘Oh, he was a clone’ or ‘He’s only mostly dead’ in the Princess Bride vernacular.
Having said all that, Lindelof is keenly aware that in the comics, Hal Jordan has been dead before. Lindelof said, “I do not know anything about the creative (for season 2). And I wouldn’t want to hamstring those writers in any way for what future storytelling mechanisms they could indulge in. Knowing what the comics have done with Parallax — and Hal, I think, has died at least three or four times over the course of the canon, and celebrating everything that Kyle did in his performance to get the audience to fall in love with Hal.”
Nerdist’s Take: Even if Hal Jordan Remains Dead, Lanterns Season 2 Needs to Figure Out How to Utilize Kyle Chandler
Even if Hal is DEAD dead, we think Kyle Chandler is such a huge part of the appeal for the series, it would be criminal not to utilize him somehow. We definitely think there’s a way to bring the Halogram back, despite whatever Sinestro said in the season one finale. And, after all, this show is called Lanterns, plural. Unless this is about to be a John Stewart/Guy Gardner team-up show, Hal will need to be a part of it. Or they may introduce another Green Lantern to co-star with Aaron Pierre. We’ll have to wait and see, but we certainly hope HBO Max doesn’t drag its feet in greenlighting season 2. What deserves a greenlight more than the show about dudes whose power is green light? Come on, HBO, it’s a sign.
