Ahead of Sunday's premiere, HBO has released the first 5 minutes of Lanterns. Opening in 1996, it reveals that Hal Jordan has been serving as Green Lantern since 1986. However, there's still no sign of his iconic domino mask during this prime-time interview (as his secret identity is publicly known, it may have been dropped from the show).
A young John Stewart is wowed by Hal, but finds himself punished for watching TV late at night—and taught to be fearless—by his father, who takes him outside and shoots an apple off the top of his head.
We then jump to 2016, where John is picked up by an antagonistic Hal, seemingly to continue or start his training as the next Green Lantern. DC Studios has yet to explain why Guy Gardner was Green Lantern in 2025 or where Hal and John were during the events of Superman.
During a recent interview with The New York Times, showrunner Chris Mundy confirmed that Lanterns was conceived as a multi-season series. However, he reiterated that this first batch of episodes is largely standalone.
"We’re trying to really put John Stewart on his feet inside our own show, but then, once he’s on his feet, he can walk around in the rest of the DC-verse," Mundy explained, adding that "we had no directives" from DC Studios to include Nathan Fillion's Guy Gardner as connective tissue to Superman.
Writer and producer Tom King "hinted at a major plot twist and a break with canon, both of which could prove controversial," according to the site, with Damon Lindelof acknowledging that they had "a real fear of screwing it up." He added that he wants fans to "feel how much we cared about Hal and John," but admits, "If it doesn’t, it’s going to fall on its face."
Watch this extended clip from Lanterns in the players below.
Lanterns follows new recruit John Stewart and Lantern legend Hal Jordan, two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.
Alongside Kyle Chander and Aaron Pierre, Kelly Macdonald, Garret Dillahunt, Poorna Jagannathan, Nicole Ari Parker, Jason Ritter, J. Alphonse Nicholson, and Jasmine Cephas Jones round out the cast.
The pilot is co-written by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King, who are co-creators for the series. Mundy serves as showrunner. The first two episodes are directed by James Hawes, with Stephen Williams, Geeta Vasant Patel and Alik Sakharov also tapped to direct.
Lanterns is executive produced by Mundy, Lindelof, James Gunn, Peter Safran, King, Ron Schmidt, and Hawes, and is based on the DC comic characters from Green Lantern.
Lanterns is set to premiere on HBO on August 16.