One of the chief pleasures so far in watching James Gunn take the helm of the DC TV and movie universe has been the emphasis on the “human” in “superhuman.” The brand’s previous steward, Zack Snyder, was primarily interested in how these beloved characters could embody his own, arch power fantasies, disregarding the undeniable fact that, for all the comic medium has grown and matured over a century, comics’ initial appeal is to our shared, slightly avaricious wonder.
In Lanterns, a magic ring that turns its wearers’ thoughts into unbreakable green constructs comes with an unspoken invitation to self-doubt. There’s something so irresistibly human about a superpower whose only weaknesses are shared with those who possess it, as the ring’s might waxes and wanes based on Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and/or John Stewart’s (Aaron Pierre) ability to reach down deep and will something incredible to happen. If they, or anyone else taking up the mantle and oath of Green Lantern, are not strong or fearless enough, everything crumbles—and there’s a group of mysterious intergalactic judges ready to ring in the next guy.
Lanterns turns the battle for that shiny green ring into a decidedly earthbound examination of just what we’d do to have our superhero fantasies fulfilled. And of what we’d do to keep that power once we have it. In keeping with Gunn’s creative vision for his domain, Lanterns is also resolutely focused on the humans wearing—or hoping to wear—the ring, far more than providing the sort of universe-spanning spectacle Green Lanterns’ adventures usually entail.
Accordingly, the primary, 2016-set storyline concerns a possible alien infiltration of the small rural town of Rushville, NE. A mass shooting at a local high-school football game draws the attention of Earth’s long-established Green Lantern, Hal, and his new trainee, former Marine sniper John. This is much to the exasperation of local sheriff Kerry Macon (Kelly Macdonald), who asserts that the shooting was simply the result of some all-American Friday-night gun violence and thus outside the Lanterns’ extraterrestrial jurisdiction. Naturally, things are not what they seem, as both Hal’s gut and some hidden ties to how he became the first Lantern from Earth suggest that there’s more to one skittish witness—and the town’s seeming fealty to a glad-handing local militia leader (Garret Dillahunt)—than meets the eye. (That the series’ first chase scene takes place on foot through some empty high-school halls rather than deep space hints at what to expect.)
It sounds like the template for a comfy odd couple tale where old and new space cops learn to appreciate each other in the crucible of heroic derring-do, but Lanterns simply isn’t that show. That “gruff old timer and brash rookie” vibe stubbornly refuses to materialize. Lanterns takes itself very seriously, sometimes to a fault. From its first scene, the series incrementally tests whether a superhero tale can bear the heft of a prestige crime drama; one of co-creators Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King’s north stars for the project was the first season of True Detective.
