Having sorted out the case of the disappearing trailer (it’s back now, and there was a boringly normal reason for its brief absence), Lanterns is now revealing pieces of a far more interesting mystery: what, exactly, its plot will be about.
We already knew that the DC Studios series, arriving August 16 on HBO and HBO Max, will follow Green Lantern Corps. members played by Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler as they investigate a case in small-town Nebraska. And we could tell it’s leaning into a gritty, grounded tone—Peacemaker, this is not.
As for its story, showrunner Chris Mundy told Entertainment Weekly that a different HBO show offered some major inspiration: True Detective, specifically its first season. Like that series, Lanterns will explore its characters across two different time periods.
In 2016, we’ll see Hal Jordan (Chandler) investigating a shooting that he believes is alien-related, a perspective not shared by the skeptical local sheriff (Kelly Macdonald). At that time, John Stewart (Pierre) is a new recruit who Hal is pressed into working with. Then, in sequences that take place a decade later, the case will expand to include “something else,” according to Mundy.
“That becomes a second mystery that we know is down the road for us,” he hinted to EW. “So eventually two different mysteries get worked out over the course of the show.”
He also added that, much like True Detective, Lanterns will be “less of a whodunnit” and more concerned with “what happened and why? We think of this as a relationship show between John and Hal, and there’s a lot to unpack over the course of the eight episodes.”
Mundy also weighed in on the “green” kerfluffle sparked when a joking remark made by co-creator Damon Lindelof resurfaced and raised the ire of Green Lantern comics legend Grant Morrison.
“We could have put out a trailer that was tremendously green,” Mundy said, referencing complaints that the clip made Lanterns look more dusty and monochrome than superhero shows tend to be. “So the fact that people are talking about it just means, to me, that they’re excited about the show. We have a lot of respect for the source material; otherwise, we wouldn’t be doing this show. I think when people see it, it won’t be a controversy.”
Head to EW to read Mundy’s teases of how Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen) and Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) will factor into the show as well.
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