Just in case you’re not up to speed on the Lanterns kerfuffle of late, there was a brief period when the trailer for the upcoming DC series vanished from HBO Max’s YouTube channel. It came without explanation (not even from chatty DC head James Gunn) Fans immediately wondered if it might have something to do with the controversy kicked up when comics legend Grant Morrison complained about Lanterns co-creator Damon Lindelof’s flippant explanation for why “green” isn’t in the title of a show about characters from Green Lantern.
Lindelof later apologized, seemingly mortified that Morrison had taken offense. But the trailer’s subsequent removal did make people wonder if that might’ve had something to do with it.
Turns out: nope. As Entertainment Weekly explains, “The original version of the Lanterns trailer included licensed music that expired and was taken offline until it could be replaced with an evergreen version … it’s a fairly common practice when it comes to trailer and teaser assets that contain licensed tracks.”
The new version of the trailer (re-released with an instrumental swapped in for the Bruce Springsteen track “State Trooper”) also revealed the precise release date for the show as August 16.
Gunn chimed in with social media posts highlighting a certain color, in case you thought for a moment he wasn’t aware of the dust-up.
Beware my power, Green Lantern’s light. #Lanterns premieres August 16 on @hbomax. pic.twitter.com/6p0ZFiEIlD
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) April 30, 2026
That settles that, apparently.
“The series follows new recruit John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) and Lantern legend Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler), two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland,” HBO Max reminds us. Kelly Macdonald co-stars along with Garret Dillahunt, Poorna Jagannathan, and Ulrich Thomsen. Pierre’s character is also confirmed to be appearing in Man of Tomorrow, Gunn’s Superman follow-up that arrives in July 2027.
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