“Lanterns” is afraid to be green

“Lanterns” is afraid to be green “Lanterns” is afraid to be green Matthew Banholzer, Arts & Cultures Reporter October 14, 2026 Photo courtesy of IMDb Spoiler Warning* “Lanterns” is the type of bad show that butchers an iconic character.  Similar to “Watchmen,” “Lanterns” treats its source material as something to correct rather than adapt. The creative team tears down John Stewart and Hal Jordan in a self-important anger and fills in the gaps with their political viewpoints.  The titular Lanterns can’t be heroes, the Guardians hand out reparations, the ring is barely used and the villains are defanged. “Lanterns” is afraid to be green. The Ring does not choose Green Lantern In the comics, Green Lanterns are chosen by the ring itself. Green Lantern rings seek out a wearer rather than being found. Hal Jordan received his when a ring left Abin Sur, and then chose Hal because of his incredible willpower.  The show trades this for an application process. Forbes points out that it’s a bizarre creative choice to have the Guardians send glowing green bubbles to sleeping people and ask whether they are afraid. The source material has the Guardians choose John Stewart as Hal’s backup; the issue comes when “Lanterns” takes that process in a completely different direction.  John is interviewed, then lies, cheats and steals his way to the ring. No ring ever chooses John in the show. He takes it off of someone’s finger or is handed it.  Becoming a Green Lantern stops being about the psychological fortitude to push past fear and more about possessing jewelry.  Because the show makes becoming a Lantern John’s life mission, his relationship to the role is fundamentally altered. John, in the comics, is the most disciplined and morally rigid Lantern. The lengths he goes to become a Lantern in the show are contradictory to John’s entire character. This isn’t John the Green Lantern from the comics; this is a writer trying to “improve” the source material. “Lanterns” also undercuts Hal, an in-universe hero for over 30 years who gave up nearly everyone around him. The Rushville incident is meant to diminish him but mostly exposes how unfit John is, and the show never admits it.  The season finale has John run from his duty as a Green Lantern and run back to an abusive household. Green Lantern is about willpower, overcoming fear, and here, fear wins. Photo courtesy of IMDb Episode 3 and reparations Episode 3 of “Lanterns” is the worst of the series. The episode leaves viewers unsure of what the show is trying to say about race politics.  According to DC’s own site, John’s father was considered for the role of Green Lantern, but failed the ring’s fearlessness test and standards. Traumatized, he has nightmares about the encounter, and his wife calls the Guardians, claiming that they are racist for choosing Hal over him.  A Guardian, an alien filled with white guilt, returns to their house and gives them a diamond to act as reparations.  The ring was the one who tested, and consequently scarred, John’s dad, not the Guardians. John’s mom accused the wrong thing of being racist, only to be rewarded for it. Additionally, the Guardians have watched entire species go extinct – such is the case with Antaan’s species.  So, how come the Guardians chose to compensate this one family over the countless victims of the Guardians’ own mistakes? By giving John’s family reparations, the writers are saying that the Guardians prioritize Black America over aliens that have undergone extinction-level events.  The mom then lectures the Guardian, who gave her the diamond, about how Black people are often stereotyped in America. She mentions how white people wrongly assume that Black people are criminals.  Later in the episode, she drops young John off in a shady, Black neighborhood to cure his fear. The show portrays that neighborhood as dangerous, with the dad questioning whether John would get killed or not by walking through the neighborhood. The script then has its Black lead lie, cheat and steal. These are a couple of examples of how characters condemn a stereotype, only for the script to validate it.  Mixed messages like this further muddle whether or not “Lanterns” is meant to condemn stereotypes, or further enforce them.  This whole episode showcases how “Lanterns” prioritizes confused politics over coherent storytelling and consistent in-universe logic.  Unfortunately, there are several politically fueled side-quests throughout the season that either confuse the show’s self-righteous political messaging or change the lore of Green Lantern in a detrimental way. Photo courtesy of IMDb A Manhunter that doesn’t hunt Manhunters are the Guardians’ first attempt at building a space police. They’re an android army that the Guardians turned on because of their policing tactics.  Afterward, they become the mortal enemy of the thing that replaced them, the Green Lantern Corps. In “Lanterns,” the Manhunter is Zoe Macon, a synthetic being connected to the Guardians.  The entire season, Hal is talking about how big of a threat the Manhunters are; being the mortal enemies of the Green Lanterns, you’d think something big is going to happen.  In reality, though, the Manhunters aren’t similar to their intimidating killing machine counterparts. Zoe poses no threat throughout the entire season. John, the prodigy of the Manhunters’ sworn enemy, even has sex with Zoe and lives. The show recasts space Terminators as misunderstood victims, thinking that a murder mystery can be suspenseful without a threatening killer. Sinestro fares no better. He tries to manipulate Hal into seeing John as a threat, but it doesn’t go anywhere. Sinestro is either captured or getting beat up. What a threatening archnemesis for Hal to have. A hero, without an identity Mundy has described “Lanterns” as a “True Detective” style mystery set on Earth, with early reporting suggesting the shift from cosmic spectacle may have been to save costs. The results speak for themselves.  In Episode 5, the ring starts at 5% power, and a specialized smoke gun renders the Green Lantern Ring useless.  The biggest fight scene in “Lanterns” is a point-of-view scene without constructs.  “Stargirl” (2020) had a lower budget and had more constructs in one episode than the entirety of “Lanterns.”  If the budget for your show doesn’t provide enough for an adaptation of a character, don’t adapt that character.  I cannot recommend that you watch HBO’s “Lanterns.”  Overall Rating: 3/10 0 Like This Story Share on Facebook Share on X Email this Story Print this Story Tags: Arts & Culture Lantern review Donate to Iowa State Daily $6,633 $10,000 Contributed Our Goal Your donation will support the student journalists of the Iowa State Daily. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment, send our student journalists to conferences and off-set their cost of living so they can continue to do best-in-the-nation work at the Iowa State Daily. 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