Lanterns trailer sends Hal Jordan to Sinestro’s cell
HBO’s Lanterns trailer debuted at Comic-Con, revealing Sinestro, Guy Gardner and a shape-shifting Manhunter threat before its Aug. 16 premiere.
By Bianca Rossi · Entertainment Editor
2 min read
The new Lanterns trailer has arrived with a prison visit, a familiar Green Lantern face and a murder case that may be much stranger than it first looks, according to Variety. HBO unveiled the latest look at the DC Studios series during San Diego Comic-Con, ahead of its Aug. 16 premiere on HBO.
The eight-episode drama stars Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan, an experienced Green Lantern, with Aaron Pierre as John Stewart, his trainee in the Green Lantern Corps. Variety reported that the pair are pulled into a rural Nebraska killing that appears to have ties to dangerous aliens.
The footage gives viewers their first look at Ulrich Thomsen as Sinestro, the classic Green Lantern antagonist, and shows Hal Jordan visiting him in prison. In DC comics, Variety noted, Sinestro was once a Green Lantern and a mentor to Jordan before becoming one of his most famous enemies.
What is Lanterns about?
Lanterns follows Hal Jordan and John Stewart as spacefaring peacekeepers whose rings let them create objects out of green light. The HBO series sends them away from cosmic spectacle and into a Nebraska murder mystery with extraterrestrial danger closing in.
The trailer also brings in Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner for a cameo. Variety reported that Fillion previously played the Green Lantern Corps member in last year’s Superman and will return in the upcoming sequel Man of Tomorrow.
The mystery now appears to involve the Manhunters. According to Variety’s description of the trailer, the Manhunters are aliens capable of changing shape and passing as anyone, a tidy nightmare for a detective story built around trust, identity and a body count.
The cast extends beyond its two Lantern leads. Variety listed Kelly Macdonald, Laura Linney, Paula Patton, Garret Dillahunt, Poorna Jagannathan, Nicole Ari Parker, Jason Ritter, Sherman Augustus, Paul Ben-Victor and Thomsen among the ensemble.
Behind the camera, the series comes from Tom King, Damon Lindelof and Chris Mundy, with Mundy serving as showrunner, Variety reported. King, Lindelof and Mundy are also executive producers alongside DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran.
Lanterns is part of the relaunched DC Universe slate, joining the animated Creature Commandos and the series Peacemaker. Variety reported that DC’s next project after that is the body-horror film Clayface, starring Tom Rhys Harries as the Batman villain.
For Green Lantern fans, the trailer’s sell is clear: Jordan and Stewart get the badge-and-ring treatment, Sinestro is already behind bars, Guy Gardner is in the mix and the Manhunters may be hiding in plain sight.
This story draws on original reporting from Variety.