Who Is Laura Linney Playing In The DCU’s Lanterns Series (We Think We Know)
The DCU’s upcoming Lanterns series is building some renewed excitement following a brand-new teaser trailer. Overall, the series still looks fairly grounded with major True Detective inspirations. However, the newly released footage features additional cosmic elements, Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner, Kyle Chandler’s Hal Jordan suited up, and more green in general compared to the first teaser.
However, one of the most intriguing inclusions is our first look at Laura Linney’s new DCU character in Lanterns. Shown speaking with Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart, it’s currently unknown who she’s set to play. Currently, Linney is one of the only actors listed on IMDb whose character is unconfirmed. As such, DC Studios is likely keeping her character’s identity a secret for a big reveal in the series itself.
That being said, there are a few clues teasing who Laura Linney might be playing in James Gunn’s new DC Universe. Between her brief dialogue and implications regarding her authority and knowledge of the Green Lantern Corps, Linney might secretly be playing one of the more important figures in the entire Green Lantern mythos from the original comics.
Laura Linney’s DCU Role In Lanterns Is Still A Major Mystery
The mystery surrounding Laura Linney’s character is particularly interesting because most of the show’s other major cast members have already been identified. Kyle Chandler is playing Hal Jordan, Pierre is playing John Stewart, and Nathan Fillion is officially appearing as Guy Gardner following his debut in 2025’s Superman. Likewise, Kelly MacDonald is playing Sheriff Kerry, while Garret Dillahunt is set to play William Macon (whom many believe will be revealed as the major Green Lantern villain Black Hand). It’s even known that Ulrich Thomsen is set to play Sinestro, Hal Jordan’s classic mentor-turned-rival.
Meanwhile, Laura Linney is still a complete wildcard, though one can imagine her role will be pretty sizable in the upcoming DCU series. Case in point, the second Lanterns teaser sees Linney’s character sitting down with John Stewart, who stresses to her that he was “raised fearless,” promising to wield the ring better than Hal Jordan has ever done before. In response, Linney’s character calmly orders him to “go and get it, John Stewart.“
From this single scene alone, it can be deduced that Laura Linney’s character knows about the Green Lantern Corps and John’s role as he attempts to inherit the ring from Jordan. Likewise, her formal use of John’s full name also seems to imply that she might be in a position of authority over Stewart. With that in mind, I do have a pretty exciting idea that Laura Linney might be playing one of the Guardians of Oa in the DCU.
Laura Linney Could Be Playing One Of The Guardians of Oa (Hear Me Out)
The Guardians of OA, creators of DC’s Green Lanterns, say “we have failed”
As wild as it might initially sound, I genuinely think Laura Linney could be playing one of the Guardians of the Universe, the ancient beings living on the planet Oa who created and typically oversee the Green Lantern Corps and their mission to protect the universe. In the comics, the Guardians are usually depicted as small, elderly, blue-skinned beings.
Nevertheless, I could easily see a series as grounded as Lanterns initially featuring one of the Guardians via a “human form” to meet with John on Earth. This would be not unlike Kurt Russell’s human form as Ego in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, or Captain Marvel’s Supreme Intelligence taking the humanoid form of the MCU’s Mar-Vell (played by Annette Bening).
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
💍
/ 8
Honor Guard veteran — or still in Corps training?
Going further, the fact that Linney’s character is shown encouraging and motivating John Stewart to claim the ring could mean that she could be specifically portraying a re-imagined version of the Guardian known as Ganthet from the comics, a more unique member of the Guardians who showed more care and emotion toward the officers of the Green Lantern Corps (particularly its human members).
If this theory proves true, it would be a pretty cool role for Linney, who would no doubt serve as a key bridge as Lanterns no doubt evolves from being a more grounded series into something much more cosmic in nature.
Lanterns is set to begin streaming August 16th on HBO Max from DC Studios.
