Put the kiddies to bed and brace yourselves! The first teaser for HBO’s ‘Lanterns‘ series from DC Studios has arrived, f-bombs and all, and we’re still a bit confused.
Starring Kyle Chandler as the cocky Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre as the fearless John Stewart — arguably two of the most recognizable Green Lanterns in DC Comics history — this “Lanterns” sneak peek is giving off more “Reacher” vibes than anything else. It’s looking like a stock criminal investigation show set in the Midwest, and not a colorful escapade featuring members of the gallant Green Lantern Corps.
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To say that we’re underwhelmed is an understatement, but we’ll hold our final judgment until we’ve seen more. We’ve been wrong before, but for now, all we’ve seen is this drab, argumentative teaser of tedious conflict and car conversations.
Parents hoping for a family-friendly Green Lantern series from James Gunn and Co. to accompany the many DC Animated Movies starring the noble fraternity of universal peacekeepers are going to be extremely disappointed knowing their children will have to be shielded from the swearing and adult themes depicted here.
From this trailer, “Lanterns” looks more like a “Yellowstone” spinoff from Taylor Sheridan than a splashy superhero show revealing incredible energy constructs, alien planets, and outer space combat.
Don’t get us wrong, the hyper-stylized ultraviolence delivered in shows like “Peacemaker” is great when it suits the source material, but we were hoping for something a little brighter here. Sure, we get a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it image of a lantern and Jordan’s iconic ring, but it’s certainly not enough to whet the appetites of the worldwide Green Lantern faithful. The joke about Ch’p the squirrel was pretty funny, though, we’ll give it that.
“Lanterns” also features Kelly MacDonald, Garret Dillahunt, Poorna Jagannathan, Ulrich Thomsen, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Sherman Augustus, J. Alphonse Nicholson, Jason Ritter, Nathan Fillion, Chris Coy, and Paul Ben-Victor. The pilot episode was penned by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King, who are all serving as series co-creators.
‘Lanterns’ is scheduled for an August release on HBO Max.