One of the most anticipated upcoming DC TV shows lined up for the DC Universe shared continuity is Lanterns, which will focus on Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and John Stewart investigating a mystery in the American heartland. Earlier this month, it was reported that Josh Brolin was being lined up to play the former role, but shortly thereafter, word came in that he wouldn’t play Hal after all. Today, however, a new actor has been revealed to be in the running, and this Lanterns casting rumor is even more fitting.
According to Deadline, Kyle Chandler of Friday Night Lights and Bloodline fame is in talks to star in Lanterns as Hal Jordan, who was previously played by Ryan Reynolds in the 2011 Green Lantern movie. In this series, Hal would function as the grizzled veteran Emerald Knight who’s paired with John, a rookie in the Green Lantern Corps. The publication reports that the search for an actor to play John is ongoing.
As already indicated, Chandler is no stranger to working in television, both with the aforementioned two shows and series like Early Edition, What About Joan? and Super Pumped. Film-wise, his credits include King Kong, Super 8, Argo, Zero Dark Thirty, Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Godzilla vs. Kong, the latter two being part of the MonsterVerse franchise housed at Warner Bros. Pictures. Lanterns would finally give Chandler the opportunity to add a superhero media credit to his name, and hopefully him playing Hal Jordan would turn out better than it did for Ryan Reynolds.
Additionally, Kyle Chandler has proved time and time he’s great at playing sympathetic authority figures, whether we’re talking about Coach Taylor in Friday Night Lights or a role like Mark Russell in the MonsterVerse. Given the dynamic that Hal Jordan and John Stewart will have in Lanterns, Chandler is a great pick for such a role, as Hal will need to show John the ropes with channeling the green energy of willpower and making effective constructs to protect the inhabitants of Sector 2814. I still have concerns about Hal being around 60 in this series, but I have no doubt that Chandler can do justice to the role.
That being said, if my suspicion is correct that Lanterns will show Hal Jordan becoming Parallax, whether it’s in this first season or hypothetical future seasons, then Chandler will also end up need to stretch those villainous acting muscles, too. For now, though, Warner Bros. and DC Studios are keeping a tight lid on Lanterns plot details. Behind the scenes, True Detective’s Chris Mundy is serving as showrunner and executive producer, and he also wrote the pilot script with fellow executive producers Damon Lindelof and Tom King.
After initially being set to be an exclusive offering to Max subscription holders, Lanterns will now air on HBO first before its episodes drop on the streaming platform. We’re a long ways off from learning when Lanterns premieres, but browse through our 2024 TV schedule to see what small screen programming is available to watch now, which includes fellow DC series The Penguin.
