LANTERNS S1

Kyle Chandler has been an all-star since FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS. He carries LANTERNS the same way he carried Dillon, Texas, grounding an intergalactic agency with a human who leads with empathy and sarcasm. His Hal Jordan is deeply flawed. Most superhero leads play strength as the absence of fear, where Chandler plays a man who’s hiding that fear.

Aaron Pierre matches him as John Stewart, bringing a steady, grounded calm to a character carrying a life of shame and projected trauma. I loved his arc from a man living for what his parents wanted him to become to one exploring what he actually wants for himself. It’s a genuinely powerful DC story.

Producer Damon Lindelof’s craft has sharpened across LOST, WATCHMEN, THE LEFTOVERS, and now LANTERNS, and he handles the mystery and narrative debt with grace. On the surface, LANTERNS carries a TRUE DETECTIVE vibe, but the story underneath is simpler. It isn’t a tale of a Lantern ascending to power. It’s a story about a flawed man, grief, and growth.

I’ve heard fan complaints that LANTERNS wasted a supervillain, the show was too fragmented, and we didn’t get enough Pierre and Chandler screen time. And they are 100% correct with those observations. However, I’d encourage them to look at this show through a deeper lens. This is a character drama, disguised as a superhero TV series. And when you realize that, the adjustments they made from the source material all make sense. I know that change from beloved comics is hard to accept, but I encourage those die-hard fans to lean into this richly crafted world, and they will be rewarded.

Final Thought: The best Lanterns shine brightest in the dark, and LANTERNS continues to shine brightly for James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC universe.

It’s streaming on HBO Max now.