Lanterns — A different take on classic DC Comics superheroes

Review by C.J. Bunce

A series finally depicting Hal Jordan and John Stewart from DC Comics? Starring Kyle Chandler as Hal and Rebel Ridge’s Aaron Pierre as John? The first episode of the new James Gunn-guided DC Universe series Lanterns has made its way to HBO Max, and whether it’s off to a good start depends entirely on your history with the character saving Earth and parts of the universe in DC Comics since 1959. If you’re a fan of the typical HBO-produced dramas, complete with the network’s requisite sex, profanity, adult themes, and “grit,” then you’ll probably find the series on its way to be the next dark, mystery-filled season of True Detective. The pilot episode is as good as–and similar to–the Jodie Foster season of that show. As for fans of Hal Jordan and John Stewart the comic book characters, you may or may not like what’s in store over the next eight episodes. Are you a fan of the Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams Hal Jordan of Green Lantern 76-87? Are you a fan of the 1990s revisions to the Lanterns? Or maybe you’re just happy to finally see one of the last members of the original Justice League finally get his own series?

Let’s dig into this series pilot about a former test pilot turned space cop…

Hal Jordan was dead to begin with.

Ryan Reynolds delivered an unrecognizable Hal in the 2011 Green Lantern movie (its best feature was Mark Strong’s picture-perfect Sinestro and a nice cadre of Lanterns of every color). After that the most we saw from Green Lantern in live-action was John Diggle in the Arrow series, the centerpiece of CW’s Green Arrow-centered Arrowverse under Greg Berlanti. More than simply being a Black male character, Diggle was written as a partner for Oliver Queen mirroring some of those O’Neil and Adams adventures–just without the suit and power of the ring. More recently in last year’s big-screen Superman, another Lantern surfaced in the form of Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner. Zack Snyder’s Justice League movies and Greg Berlanti’s Arrow series just left out the Lantern tales. So anyone who has read all or most of even a fair chunk of Green Lantern stories is probably happy to see the attention return to their characters.

So although DC Comics has offered up several dozen story arcs for the Lanterns over 65 plus years, Lanterns doesn’t appear to hang its hat on any of them. The 1990s stories seem to be the starting point for this series, and if you read comics back then, you know they were all about killing off superheroes. Superman died. Green Arrow died. They even killed off Star Wars’ lovable Chewbacca in the comics. The constant of the Gunn-verse is choices that don’t begin with reverence for the comic book history of any character. And Gunn’s team’s vision frequently looks for the shock and awe over content kids can consume. (See his Peacemaker and Suicide Squad choices.) It’s been the recurring theme in DC Comics going back to Frank Miller shaking up the Batman mythos. Tim Burton did it with his Batman movies. Chris Nolan did it again with his Batman movies. And Zach Snyder did it with the Justice League in his movies. So consumers of DC Comics in live-action are accustomed to getting something different from the traditional take of the comics. As long as that appeals to you, then Lanterns may be a show you can embrace.

As teased in the trailers, the casting is the best feature. Along with Chandler and Pierre you get Kelly Macdonald, stepping back to her No Country for Old Men Oscar-worthy American accent from her routes through Disney heroine, Star Wars alien, Gosford Park straight Brit dramas, and everything in between. Her range of wincing in the Lanterns pilot is hilarious, but it’s clear her Sheriff Kerry is forging the next Jodie Foster-inspired investigator, here at the beginning of both a mass murder on the football field and the later death of Hal himself.

Then there’s Garret Dillahunt, back with his Burn Notice-era villainy as William Macon, a skeezy rural ranch owner who claims he’s not all the bad things he appears to be. His wife keeps her cards close to her vest, too, played by Deli Boys’ star Poorna Jagannathan. For some obscure comic book movie street cred, there’s Jason Ritter as the sheriff’s husband, Macon’s son, and Hal’s lawyer–he’s the real-life son of the late John Ritter, star of Hero at Large, one of the all-time best movies about superheroes.

Dillahunt’s ranch and the cinematography of small-town Nebraska leaves the impression this show is echoing Tulsa King or maybe Hell or High Water. To its credit the vibe is much less the CW’s Arrowverse and more like Stargirl and Swamp Thing–probably the two best TV series adapting comics since The Incredible Hulk and The Flash from 1990. But it’s not yet that lived-in world of Netflix’s Marvel TV series. But heck, it’s only the first episode. The separate stories told over multiple time periods works in the first episode.

Why select a high school football game as the setting for a multiple shooting? Why show a father use a gun to shoot an apple off his son’s head? Bizarre choices like that seem irresponsible for a series likely to attract kids. So if it’s not crystal clear yet, this DC Universe isn’t for kids anymore. At its best this story feels like the alien hunting in Men in Black. At its worst it’s more of the expected Gunn-era moves–young creators at the studios keep snatching the most recent incarnation of characters in favor of the classic versions.

Pierre’s Stewart looks and sounds right. And if you can ignore the Hal you know, Chandler’s Hal has his own charm in an Old Man Logan kind of way. Macdonald will be fun to watch as arbitrator of all the craziness. And Dillahunt never disappoints.