Lanterns’ Schedule Push Might Be Good News For Fans of Cosmic DC

In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil will escape Green Lantern’s sight… Well, okay, evil can rest easy for a bit longer. The upcoming HBO series Lanterns had been slated to be the next official entry of the DCU, coming early in 2026. But The Wrap has reported that the eight-episode series has been moved to the end of the summer, placing it between the movies Supergirl and Clayface.

For those who love the weirder parts of the Green Lantern mythos, this change in schedule might be great news. Let Supergirl introduce viewers to the cosmic aspects of the DCU; then, we can focus on Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre), two members of the intergalactic peace keeping force the Green Lantern Corps.

Although originally introduced in 1940’s All-American Comics #16, written by Bill Finger and penciled by Martin Nodell, as a standalone character with a magical wishing ring, Green Lantern was revamped by editor Julius Schwartz in the Silver Age as a member of an intergalactic police force (heavily indebted to the Lensmen of Larry Niven’s Known Space Trilogy). 1959’s Showcase Comics #22, written by John Broome and penciled by Gil Kane, introduced Hal Jordan, a test pilot who gets recruited as the newest member of the Green Lantern Corps, given a power ring and tasked with patrolling space sector 2814.

Since the Silver Age, the Corps has added more humans to its ranks, including marine-turned-architect John Stewart and the brain-damaged hot head Guy Gardner, whom Nathan Fillion introduced to the world in this year’s Superman. But most of the Green Lanterns are weird aliens, such as the crystalline Chaselon, the zombie Driq, the gaseous Flodo Span, and Ch’p, a cartoon squirrel.

Despite the cosmic nature inherent to the Green Lantern concept, early buzz on the series Lanterns has been entirely terrestrial. In his first announcement for the show, James Gunn compared Lanterns to True Detective and Slow Horses—good shows each, but not exactly the type of series where a living planet could show up. Likewise, the only image released from the series so far shows Chandler and Pierre as Jordan and Stewart, walking down a desert road in plainclothes: no aliens, no strange planets, not even a power ring.

Since then, Gunn, as well as Lanterns co-creators Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King have all assured readers that the show’s central mystery may take place on Earth, but there will be plenty of cosmic elements. And the cast does include Ulrich Thomsen as Sinestro, a renegade former Green Lantern from the planet Korugar, and Paul Ben-Victor as an alien on a mission of vengeance.

But the schedule change might be the clearest sign that Lanterns will indeed have a cosmic element. Based on the maxi-series Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King and Bilquis Evely, Supergirl will follow Kara Zor-El (Milly Alcock) as she initially travels to various planets with a red sun, weakening her powers enough so that she can get drunk to celebrate her 21st birthday. On one of those planets, Supergirl will be recruited by young Ruthye Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley) to help her find her father’s killer, Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts). Also, the Czarnian bounty hunter Lobo will show up, played by Jason Momoa.

In short, Supergirl will take viewers deep into space, introducing them to some of the strangest parts of DC’s universe. Moreover, it will give viewers even more grounding to understand who the Green Lantern Corps are and why they matter so much.

Does this mean that Lanterns will suddenly become hard sci-fi and will deal with the Omega Men rebelling against the Spider Guild in the Vega System? Probably not. But it will at least show viewers that Hal and John are part of something much bigger and much stranger than anything on Earth and remind them that, if worst comes to worst and evil does threaten to escape their sight, they can always call on their friend and fellow Green Lantern member, Mogo the Living Planet.

Lanterns comes to HBO in the summer of 2026.