HBO’s Lanterns marks the beginning of another ambitious project towards DC’s revival as an expansive superhero universe. This will be the first time fans will witness the emergence of the Green Lantern in a live-action scene after Ryan Reynolds’ body-hugging green-suit superhero in 2011.
The live-action television series will focus on the rise of John Stewart as the Green Lantern in HBO’s detective-style-themed story, alongside featuring Hal Jordan as the veteran hero who started it all. The premiere takes us back to 1996, where a young John is glued to his television screen, which is showing Kyle Chandler’s Hal Jordan having a one-on-one interview.
Contrary to the unspoken rule in the DC universe that superheroes keep their identities secret no matter the cost, Hal declared his role as the Green Lantern years ago when he saved Victoria Falls from a meteorite. He is a celebrated hero, with people well aware of his life story.
A young John looks intently at the screen as the show airs glimpses of Hal’s life, from losing his father in an aircraft accident to becoming a pilot himself. The point of his declaration was to make those listening realize that he wasn’t born special and that the most important thing is not to be afraid.
As his words about being fearless linger on the screen, John’s siblings warn him of their father's arrival, but he holds onto Hal’s every word until his father arrives. He asks John if he was going to tell him his real name, to which he replies, “Hal Jordan.”
John’s father doesn’t say much except for asking his son to go outside with him and stand in front of the garage with an apple placed on his head. He asks his son, “Are you afraid?” The boy replies, “No,” and the apple blasts off his head. Surprisingly, John is unhinged, and the father and son later go out to eat burgers.
John Stewart is officially introduced
The scene from John’s childhood cuts to him working out in a gym 20 years later. He receives a message, probably from Hal, because the next thing he sees is the Green Lantern himself arriving in a beat-up car, late. The two speed away. We learn that John is actually training to become a Lantern under Hal.
However, there’s a certain tension between the two, mainly because Hal might have an eccentric approach to training. Hal tries to provoke John by mentioning how he ghosted him for two weeks and then showed up late to their meeting. In his defense, he was off-planet, solving an intergalactic matter with diplomacy.
John argues that he hasn’t had the opportunity to wear the ring despite being chosen by the Guardian. Hal corrects John that he may have been chosen by the big blue bosses, but it’s the ring that decides whether its wearer is ready. And as he says that, he places the ring on the dashboard, asks John to meet him at the taco place a few miles ahead, and jumps out of the car.
The car goes off the edge of the hill with John still inside and smacks right into the ground, but not before John puts on the ring. The next we see of John is him walking along the side of the road and complaining to his father about Hal’s attitude. However, John Sr. shuts him down, saying to keep his cool and go with the flow, but he knows that nothing is straightforward with Hal.
A mysterious crime scene brings Hal and John to Nebraska
John saves himself, but he’s angry at Hal’s unorthodox methods. As he walks to the taco place, the ring starts to glow, and Hal’s hologram materializes in front of him. This version of Hal is even more flustered and chaotic than the original one, as he has no idea what’s going on.
He questions John about the ring, and that’s when he learns that the Hal he’s seeing is actually his consciousness backed up into the ring because of its sentient nature. It’s like storing himself in the cloud so that he can be downloaded later and give himself a message.
John learns that Hal hasn’t backed himself up for about ten years, but there’s something he wants to tell himself. Hal gives John the message that “There’s hail in Rushville, Nebraska," and disappears. Confused and frustrated, John continues his long walk until he arrives at the taco place where Hal is busy with a small “fan-meet” with people.
Hal can tell that John is pissed, but he’s more interested in knowing what he conjured to save himself. John shyly reveals that he manifested bubble wrap to protect himself, much to Hal’s amusement, but he does find his solution ingenious.
Upon returning the ring to Hal, John relays the message, and as soon as he hears the words, his expression changes. He flies off in the blink of an eye, leaving John behind to make his own traveling arrangements to Nebraska. When he finally arrives at the designated spot, John sees a flood of police cars and people surrounding a football field.
He gets an all-clear from the local sheriff to stay at the crime scene and finds Hal already in the stands. He tells John that there’s been a mass shooting and the victims will end up being “aliens.” Of course, everyone, including Sheriff Kerry, thinks he’s overreacting and hijacking her investigation. She’s not too happy that Hal’s there but lets him hang around.
John complains to Hal about his vagueness regarding the situation and spots a suspicious man at the scene. He thinks this information would help the sheriff, but he ends up tipping the guy off, and he runs. After an exhausting chase, John finally catches the guy, and he’s taken away. However, Hal wants to interrogate the suspect to prove he’s an alien, but the sheriff shuts him down.
Later that night, both men hit the local bar, but despite everything, John is convinced that Hal is hiding something from him. Out of distrust, Hal retells the events of being transported to a crashed alien ship in the middle of nowhere in Nebraska. However, Hal seems convinced that it was no accident that the ship crashed on Earth, especially when it was evident that the blue bosses didn’t want anyone near Earth.
Hal’s guts were right all along
Hal is genuinely convinced that there’s something larger at play and that what’s happening in this quaint little town is linked to something big. As they talk, Hal sets up the jukebox to stage a scene so he can be taken into custody and put in the same cell as the suspect. Meanwhile, John meets a stranger at the bar and later sleeps with her.
Hal gets arrested, but instead of being put in the cell, the Sheriff brings him in front of the judge. Luckily, just as Hal is about to get on the judge’s last nerve, Billy Macon arrives to defend Hal. Not only does he manage to get bail for Hal, but he also turns out to be Sheriff Kerry’s husband.
Of course, Hal and John are suspicious because who would want to pay thousands of dollars for complete strangers, but Billy invites the duo to his father’s place to learn the real reason why he helped Hal. Since nothing else seems like a better option, John and Hal go to the Macon place, which is surprisingly one giant land built specifically to raise a militia.
Once there, Sheriff Kerry warns Hal not to get involved with her father-in-law, but he doesn’t listen to her. In the house, Hal meets the vibrant William Macon, who conveniently doesn’t own the place but looks after it for someone he can’t disclose because of the NDAs. However, what he does reveal is his shared concern for extraterrestrial life forms on Earth.
William confesses that his militia is just a speck of the preparation they might need if their world were threatened by aliens. So, as a friendly gesture, he gives Hal his word that he’ll get to speak with the suspect because he has similar concerns about the man’s origin.
Overall, John and Hal’s visit bears fruit for their investigation. However, on the downside, John learns that the woman he slept with from the bar last night was William’s wife and Kerry’s son’s grandmother, so things end on an awkward note between them.
The episode delivers a shocking twist
The next morning, Hal gets his five minutes with the suspect that Kerry thinks is just an ordinary man from Kimball. However, John points out that several alien species can pass common tests such as MRI and X-rays without being detected as extraterrestrial.
Hal starts questioning the guy about football since he mentioned that he was there for the game. Despite answering all his questions about who he is and where he’s from, Hal doesn’t seem convinced. He points out that the suspect answered rehearsed questions on common topics to help them pass as humans. He didn’t know the specifics of things, and that’s how Hal catches him.
The guy finally caves, admitting that if Hal were right, hypothetically, he’d be someone on an important mission, since he went to great lengths to conceal his identity. If he put so much effort into hiding and doing his work in secrecy, then that would be because he doesn’t want a galactic peace organization to know about it. Furthermore, if he were compromised, he’d have to take drastic measures to ensure that his secret doesn’t get out.
It seems that the man had been prepared for every possible situation, including the one in which he was confronted by a space cop. He informs Hal that if push comes to shove, he has a biometric neutron device in his skull that he can activate with just a thought. He can cause an explosion powerful enough to obliterate the whole town, calling into question Hal’s ability to protect the people.
The man provokes Hal and tries to get under her skin, which eventually works. Hal tries to handle him, but it’s too late. They hear a beeping sound coming from his body, and Hal immediately throws him in the corner. He creates a protective bubble around him just as he explodes; however, it’s not enough, and the blast from the man blows a hole in the wall.
Fortunately, no one gets hurt except for Kerry’s ego for hating Hal’s guts. The scene ends, and the screen cuts to the present day in 2026. An older John is driving through the same Nebraska town that he and Hal visited a decade ago. He stops near the football field and sees Sheriff Kerry emerge from her car. The two greet warmly, and John catches up on how her son is now a quarterback.
However, their smiles soon fade because Kerry has an unpleasant situation that she’d like John to deal with. As they make their way to the snow-covered bleachers, John sees Hal’s frozen body sitting with a wound on his head. John brushes Hal’s fingers and notices he isn’t wearing the ring. The camera pans out, and the episode ends on a shocking note.
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