As I write this we’re around three weeks away from our first look at James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU with the launch of Creature Commandos. But one project which has many fans intrigued is the first live-action series in the franchise, HBO’s Lanterns. In a new interview with IGN Gunn has touched on the Green Lantern series and its place in the wider release schedule.
“It’s really Creature Commandos, Superman, Peacemaker, Lanterns, Supergirl,” says Gunn. “And then some things people don’t know.”
We’ll park those projects we don’t know about for a second… if all goes to plan with Lanterns production then that puts its release somewhere between Peacemaker season 2 which is due in August of 2025 and Supergirl in June of 2026. Elaborating a little more on the gap between Lanterns and the Girl of Steel Gunn said “we’ll see when it comes out, but they’re around the same time”.
It was recently confirmed that the series will be headlined by Kyle Chandler, taking on the role of Hal Jordan, and Rebel Ridge star Aaron Pierre who joins the DCU as John Stewart. Just don’t mention to Gunn any of the complaints of Chandler being too old to play a hero like Hal:
“Wait a second, comic book fans had an opinion on casting. What are you talking about!?” laughs Gunn.
“The truth is Chris [Mundy] and Tom [King] and Damon [Lindelof] wrote an amazing series, like an incredible series” he adds. “I’m so excited for people to see this. It’s very grounded, very believable, very real. The kind of things that you would never think that would be the truth about a Green Lanterns television series. And very human, adult and wonderful. And the story that they wrote fit a couple of actors who were of these ages and so that’s who they cast. Those were their choices. I totally backed them up. I love them.”
“Kyle’s just magnificent. So I’m really excited for people to see what those guys have come up with,” Gunny says of the casting. “But everything is to serve the story. The story is always first. The scripts are always first. And we would never be making this show if Chris and the guys hadn’t turned in wonderful, beautiful scripts.”
In brightest day. In blackest night. We can’t wait to see what the Lanterns production team is cooking up!
