HBO’s Lanterns is the best thing DC has put on screen in years

📺 DC has spent years trying to make the Green Lantern work on screen. Lanterns, HBO’s eight-episode series, is what’s finally working. Co-created by Ozark showrunner Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof of Watchmen fame, and comics writer Tom King, the show stars Kyle Chandler as veteran Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre as new recruit John Stewart.

The plot: Lanterns is set across two timelines — 2016 and 2026. The 2016 thread follows John’s training under Hal as the two investigate a public mass shooting in rural Nebraska. A decade later, John is pulled back to the same territory after Hal’s body turns up and the circumstances around his death fail to add up. The murder mystery drives the plot forward, but the relationship between mentor and student is what gives the story its emotional weight.

What we liked: Lanterns is a deeply refreshing watch. It feels less like a superhero production and more like a character-driven mystery drama. The cinematography is spot-on, and the pacing finds a rhythm that’s deliberate without dragging. Which is to say: It’s more bingeable than its pace might suggest. Chandler expertly brings the weariness of a man who’s seen too much and is running out of reasons to keep going to the screen, but Pierre is the standout, delivering an applause-worthy performance of a deeply troubled character, still in denial about it, whose guard comes down slowly.

The verdict: Lanterns is, in our opinion, one of DC’s best projects to date, and it isn’t even close. It checks every box — strong performances, a coherent mystery, and emotional stakes — while putting most of the DC universe to shame in the process. It carries a 7.8/10 on IMDb; we’d push that closer to a nine.

WHERE TO WATCH- Lanterns is streaming on OSN+, with episodes dropping weekly on Mondays. Watch the trailer on YouTube (watch, runtime: 3:09).