Draft:Lanterns (TV series)

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Lanterns
Genre
Based onCharacters
from DC
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producers
Production companyDC Studios
Original release
NetworkMax
Related
DCU TV series

Lanterns is an upcoming American television series based on DC Comics featuring the Green Lantern characters Hal Jordan and John Stewart. Produced by DC Studios, it will be the third television series in the DC Universe (DCU). It features Jordan and Stewart investigating a mystery on Earth.

Greg Berlanti began developing a Green Lantern television series by October 2019, with Seth Grahame-Smith and Marc Guggenheim soon joining as writers. The series was to focus on various Green Lanterns other than Jordan and Stewart. After James Gunn and Peter Safran became co-CEOs of DC Studios in October 2022, the series was redeveloped to focus on Jordan and Stewart. This was announced in January 2023, along with the series' detective story focus which was inspired by the series True Detective (2014–present).

Lanterns will be released on the streaming service Max. It will be part of the DCU's Chapter One: Gods and Monsters.

Premise[edit]

Hal Jordan and John Stewart, two Green Lanterns (intergalactic heroes who wear rings that give them extraordinary powers), investigate a mystery on Earth.[1]

Cast and characters[edit]

Production[edit]

Background[edit]

Greg Berlanti, the producer of multiple DC Comics-based television series, announced that he was developing a series based on the Green Lantern characters for the streaming service HBO Max in October 2019. Berlanti had previously co-written the 2011 film Green Lantern.[2] In January 2020, he said the series would span several decades and tell two stories about Green Lanterns on Earth as well as a story about the villainous character Sinestro in space.[3] The series was officially picked up for a 10-episode season by HBO Max that October. Marc Guggenheim, who also co-wrote the Green Lantern film, and Seth Grahame-Smith were revealed to be writing the series, with Grahame-Smith serving as showrunner.[4] The series could not make use of the main Green Lanterns from the comic books, Hal Jordan and John Stewart, because they were being reserved for DC Extended Universe (DCEU) films.[5] Instead, the series was set to explore other Green Lanterns from the comics, including Guy Gardner, Jessica Cruz, Simon Baz, Alan Scott, Kilowog, and new Green Lanterns created for the series.[4]

In April 2021, the series was revealed to be primarily focusing on Scott, a secretly gay FBI agent in 1941 who becomes Earth's first Green Lantern; and Gardner, an "embodiment of 1980s hyper-patriotism", alongside the half-alien Bree Jarta in 1984. Finn Wittrock was cast as Gardner after Berlanti received permission from producer Ryan Murphy for the actor to prioritize Green Lanterns over the planned second season of Murphy's Netflix series Ratched (2020). An actor to portray Scott was in negotiations. The series was said to be the most expensive in Berlanti's career, and was expected to begin filming later in 2021. Berlanti had been writing with Grahame-Smith and Guggenheim, who were all serving as executive producers alongside Geoff Johns, Sarah Schechter, David Madden, and David Katzenberg.[6] Pornsak Pichetshote, who previously served as an editor for DC's Vertigo Comics imprint and was an executive at DC Entertainment overseeing its television content, was later revealed to be part of the writers' room as well.[7] Jeremy Irvine was revealed to be in talks to portray Scott in May,[8] and was officially cast soon after.[9] Lee Toland Krieger was hired to direct the first two episodes at the end of the month.[10] In August 2021, Wittrock said filming would begin at the end of the year or in early 2022.[11]

In April 2022, Discovery, Inc. and Warner Bros.' parent company WarnerMedia merged to become Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), led by president and CEO David Zaslav. The new company was expected to restructure DC Entertainment and Zaslav began searching for an equivalent to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to lead the new subsidiary.[12] In June, Irvine said there was no scheduled start date for filming the series and the production was working on "getting all the stars to align".[13] A month later, the series was reaffirmed to be in development despite the cancellation of other HBO Max and DC projects by WBD.[14] In October 2022, Grahame-Smith was revealed to have left the series, which was being redeveloped to focus on John Stewart.[15] James Gunn and Peter Safran were announced as the co-chairs and co-CEOs of the newly formed DC Studios at the end of that month.[16] A week after starting their new roles, the pair had begun developing an eight-to-ten-year plan for a new DC Universe (DCU) that would be a "soft reboot" of the DCEU.[17][18][19]

Development[edit]

Gunn confirmed in December 2022 that the Green Lantern characters would be an important part of the new DCU.[20] On January 31, he and Safran unveiled the first projects from their DCU slate, which begins with Chapter One: Gods and Monsters. The third television series in the slate was Lanterns, a new iteration of the long in-development Green Lanterns series. This version features the two best known Green Lanterns, Hal Jordan and John Stewart, and Safran said it would be an Earth-based detective story rather than the space opera that Berlanti had envisioned. He said the series would be "a huge HBO-quality event" in the style of the series True Detective (2014–present), and the mystery that Jordan and Stewart investigate leads into the main storyline for the DCU so it was a "very important show" for Gunn and Safran.[1] Damon Lindelof was consulting on the series as a producer by January 2024, when it was said to be a priority project for the streaming service Max, the successor to HBO Max.[21][22] The following month, Chris Mundy was reported to be serving as showrunner while Tom King, a member of DC Studios' writer's room, was also attached as a producer.[22][third-party source needed]

Casting[edit]

In December 2022, Gunn ruled out the return of actor Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan from the Green Lantern film.[23] In July 2023, Nathan Fillion was cast as Guy Gardner for the DCU film Superman (2025),[24] and he was reported to be reprising his role in the series in February 2024.[22][third-party source needed]

Release[edit]

Lanterns is scheduled to be released on the streaming service Max. It will be part of the DCU's Chapter One: Gods and Monsters.[1][additional citation(s) needed]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e Vary, Adam B. (January 31, 2023). "New DC Universe Unveils First 10 Projects: Superman: Legacy in 2025, Batman & Robin Movie, Green Lantern Series, Wonder Woman Prequel and More". Variety. Archived from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
  2. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (October 29, 2019). "Green Lantern TV Series Among Pair of Greg Berlanti DC Dramas Set at HBO Max". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 11, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  3. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 15, 2020). "Greg Berlanti Green Lantern HBO Max Series Details Teased At TCA". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 11, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  4. ^ a b White, Peter (October 9, 2020). "Seth Grahame-Smith & Marc Guggenheim To Write Green Lantern TV Series For HBO Max". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  5. ^ Behbakht, Andy (October 16, 2020). "Every Green Lantern Confirmed For The HBO Max TV Show". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on October 17, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  6. ^ Hibberd, James; Goldberg, Lesley (April 30, 2021). "Finn Wittrock to Star in Green Lantern on HBO Max". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 10, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  7. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (March 3, 2023). "MRC, James Wan's Atomic Monster & 3 Arts In Deal To Develop Pornsak Pichetshote's Noir Graphic Novel The Good Asian Into Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 3, 2023. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  8. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (May 19, 2021). "Green Lantern: Jeremy Irvine In Talks To Play Alan Scott In HBO Max Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 20, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  9. ^ Anderson, Jenna (May 25, 2021). "Green Lantern: Jeremy Irvine Confirms Alan Scott Casting for HBO Max Series". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2021. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  10. ^ Petski, Denise (May 27, 2021). "Lee Toland Krieger To Direct First Two Episodes Of Green Lantern HBO Max Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 27, 2021. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  11. ^ Romano, Nick (August 20, 2021). "Finn Wittrock sets the stage for 'sprawling' Green Lantern series: 'It's not your average superhero story'". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on August 22, 2021. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  12. ^ Lang, Brent; Donnelly, Matt (April 14, 2022). "Warner Bros. Discovery Exploring Overhaul of DC Entertainment (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on April 14, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  13. ^ Lapreziosa, Madeline (June 2, 2022). "Jeremy Irvine Interview: Benediction". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on June 3, 2022. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  14. ^ Mitovich, Matt Webb (August 9, 2022). "Green Lantern Series 'Very Much Alive' at HBO Max — Plus, a Status Report on the Streamer's Other DC Heroes". TVLine. Archived from the original on August 9, 2022. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  15. ^ Moreau, Jordan (October 26, 2022). "Greg Berlanti's Green Lantern HBO Max Series Loses Showrunner Seth Grahame-Smith". Variety. Archived from the original on October 26, 2022. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
  16. ^ Kit, Borys; Couch, Aaron (October 25, 2022). "DC Shocker: James Gunn, Peter Safran to Lead Film, TV and Animation Division (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 25, 2022. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  17. ^ Couch, Aaron (November 10, 2022). "James Gunn, Peter Safran Are Mapping Out 'Eight- to 10-Year Plan' for DC". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 10, 2022. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  18. ^ Outlaw, Kofi (October 25, 2022). "Warner Bros. Confirms 'DC Universe' As Official Name of DCEU". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on October 25, 2022. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  19. ^ Newby, Richard (February 3, 2023). "6 Burning Questions About DC Studios' New Slate". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 3, 2023. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  20. ^ Brail, Nathaniel (December 10, 2022). "James Gunn Says Green Lantern Content Is Important". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  21. ^ Sneider, Jeff (January 29, 2024). "Exclusive: Derek Cianfrance to Direct 'Roofman' Movie About Prolific McDonald's Robber Who Lived in a Toys 'R Us". TheInSneider. Archived from the original on January 30, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
  22. ^ a b c "Production Weekly – Issue 1389 – Thursday, February 15, 2024 / 208 Listings – 45 Pages". Production Weekly. No. 1389. February 14, 2024. p. 22. Archived from the original on February 19, 2024. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
  23. ^ Lund, Anthony (December 12, 2022). "James Gunn Addresses The Return of Ryan Reynolds as DCU's Green Lantern". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on December 12, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  24. ^ Breznican, Anthony (July 11, 2023). "Superman Legacy Cast Adds Isabela Merced, Edi Gathegi and Nathan Fillion: Exclusive". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on July 11, 2023. Retrieved July 11, 2023.

External links[edit]