With a gradual marketing rollout that’s revealed more of its superhero elements, Lanterns will hit HBO on August 16. Starring Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler, the upcoming series centers Green Lantern Corps members Hal Jordan and John Stewart. This’ll be their first go at live-action since the 2011 movie, and the Lanterns’ first TV show in just as long, thanks to the bad film Ryan Reynolds can’t stop reminding us he’s sorry about.
That the movie was a failure left Green Lantern fans dismayed and cynical that the character’s name could ever be redeemed. Surprisingly, they found themselves a potential savior that same year with Cartoon Network’s Green Lantern: The Animated Series. Living in its own continuity, the CG series focuses on Jordan and fellow Green Lantern Kilowog traveling the galaxy outside the Corps’ remit to investigate the emergence of Red Lanterns, with both eventually joined by disgraced Red Lantern Razer and Aya, the AI running their ship that’s taken a physical form.
Before this point, the Green Lanterns were all over animation for decades as featured characters among many. Anyone who grew up on Cartoon Network’s DCAU probably considered John their one and only Green, something the movie apparently didn’t account for, and a mistake it seemed the show was going to repeat. But if there’s any type of miracle the Green Lantern show achieved, it’s making a better case for Hal and the Lanterns than the movie ever could. This is a show that takes proper advantage of its medium, letting itself be about the Lanterns and the world while giving the four leads a good dynamic and generally knowing what to do with them on a weekly basis.
Like Young Justice, Green Lantern was met with a solid reception, and the two eventually became the big headliners of Cartoon Network’s “DC Nation” block. Unlike its companion show, this had a shorter life, getting canceled after a single 26-episode season cut in half and presented as two. Bad toy sales weren’t incentive to continue the show, not helped by the stink of the movie still lingering during its two-year stint. Whereas Young Justice had enough of a fanbase to get eventually revived, Lantern wasn’t as lucky, though Justice used its own final season to connect the two shows and bring some closure to one of its lingering threads.
At time of writing, the only known thread shared between Lanterns and Green Lantern: The Animated Series is a focus on the Manhunters, a common enemy of the Greens in the comics. If Kilowog, Razer, or Aya appear or get a mention in Lanterns, we’ll all have to wait and see as the first season plays out. But even if that’s not the case, the animated series is worth a watch both to compare with its live-action successor and because it’s good in its own right.
And luckily, it came to Tubi earlier this month. Since it’s not that long, you’ve got time to get through the Manhunter-focused portion of its life.
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