Lanterns has proven divisive among DC fans, but critics have praised the series and, according to HBO, viewership for episodes 1 and 3 was among the network/streamer's best (nothing has been said about subsequent instalments).
Now, Nexus Point News has learned the full writing staff assembled for Lanterns Season 2 if it receives the green light from HBO. Chris Mundy will return as showrunner, but writers Damon Lindelof and Tom King aren't joining him.
In fact, Vanessa Baden Kelly is the only Lanterns Season 1 writer set to return for a potential second batch of episodes. She's proven a surprisingly divisive figure in recent weeks, having been front and centre in several interviews revealing that she was the driving force behind Hal Jordan's portrayal as a racist.
Kelly will be joined by Christopher Cantwell, Nakkiah Lui, Zack Whedon, and Selwyn Seyfu Hinds. The Lanterns finale airs on HBO this Sunday, October 4, but no official announcements have been made about the show's future. As of now, The People vs. Gorilla Grodd is the only live-action DCU TV series officially on the way.
Cantwell is the co-creator of AMC’s Halt and Catch Fire and boarded Lanterns in May. Lui, meanwhile, co-created and starred in ABC's Kiki & Kitty and Preppers. Whedon previously worked with Cantwell on Halt and Catch Fire and counts Fringe and Deadwood among his other credits. Finally, Hinds has written for The Twilight Zone and was a consulting producer on DC anthology Strange Adventures.
While this is all very promising for Lanterns, it's previously been reported that this writers' room's work is limited to pitch pages due to a renewal not necessarily being imminent. The names above also aren't newly hired; they've just been revealed for the first time (you may recall conflicting reports about whether Cantwell will be named co-showrunner with Mundy).
It's unclear what form Lanterns Season 2 would take. It was previously reported that Kyle Chandler only signed up to star in one season, whereas Aaron Pierre's deal is far more long-term (he'll return in next summer's Man of Tomorrow, for example).
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.
Seven episodes of Lanterns are now streaming on HBO Max.