Posted in: Comics, Movies, TV, TV | Tagged: grant morrison, lanterns
Writer Grant Morrison had some thoughts on the series premiere of HBO and DC Studios’ Lanterns – and we have some thoughts on those thoughts.
Published Sun, 23 Aug 2026 12:37:10 -0500 by Ray Flook
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Back in March, writer and comics great Grant Morrison called out Lanterns EP Damon Lindelof over Lindelof’s comments during a 2025 appearance on the Lovett or Leave It podcast. When asked why the DC Studios series was called “Lanterns” instead of “Green Lantern,” Lindelof responded, “It’s called ‘Lanterns’ because we all agreed that the green was stupid, so now it’s just ‘Lanterns.'” We had some thoughts on the matter, specifically, how this was one of those situations where Lindelof and Morrison could both be wrong at the same time. Shortly after, Lindelof owned up to making a “dumb joke” and made the case for his lifelong love for the comic book universe, with things pretty much settling down from there.
Image: HBO/DC Studios; Douglas Rushkoff
In the latest edition of their Xanaduum Substack (“At the End of the Start of the Day”), Morrison shared that they “felt obliged to watch the first episode of Lanterns after criticising the glib dismissal of the colour green by writer and producer Damon Lindelof.” As for what they liked, Morrison gave a thumbs-up to “Aaron Pierre’s quiet and uptight performance as John Stewart,” and that “Kyle Chandler anchored the show with a great turn as Doctor McCoy.” That said, Morrison added that Chandler’s take on the iconic character “wasn’t any Hal Jordan I recognised. Willpower and booze don’t mix for a start” – though they’re willing to “stick with it for the engaging Chandler” and to “see how they introduce the more sci-fi elements of the concept.” From there, Morrison addressed how the series was approached, criticizing it for being “way too much tell, not enough show,” and that the comparisons to HBO’s True Detective actually “worked against ‘Lanterns.”
“The lack of costumes and ring effects was glaring but easily explained by budgetary constraints and a desire to create some distance between this and the unsuccessful Ryan Reynolds ‘Green Lantern’ film (I found it odd, however, when Jordan compared not wearing his Green Lantern uniform to the decision not to wear a tie when you get older – the Lantern uniform is not a superhero suit or personal fashion choice, it’s the uniform of the organisation Jordan works for, and as with a policeman’s blues, it signals his affiliation and authority. Working cops don’t get to leave their uniforms and badges at home because they regard them as stuffy and boring, no matter how long they’ve pounded the beat..),” Morrison wrote.
They continued, “Which only begs the question of why try to make a Green Lantern show on a budget at all? DC has a ton of ‘ground level’ heroes, or characters with low level gimmick powers to choose from, so why take this low-fi route with a franchise that should be competing with Star Trek or Star Wars?” And that’s when I realized that I’m glad that Morrison isn’t involved with the series. DC Studios isn’t just aiming to bring in Green Lantern and comic book fans – it wants to hook in as much of the mainstream audience as possible. To do that, they started small, using a murder mystery to slowly build out a universe that is deep and complex – throwing viewers into the deep end of a narrative pool and hoping they can swim isn’t the best approach when you’re talking about a live-action series that had a lot riding on it. Even some of the positive reviews noted that they thought it leaned too much on the comic book lore early on – so if you have that, on one hand, and Morrison saying it didn’t go hard enough, I would say they found a pretty sweet spot in the middle.
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Regarding Hal’s comments about his Green Lantern uniform, I always find it weird to call something fantastical out for not abiding by an everyday standard. Hal’s off protecting a planet that the Guardians barely have respect for – do you really think anyone’s policing him about wearing his uniform? Hal’s not walking a beat in NYC; he’s guarding a sector of the universe that just recently became a blip on the Green Lantern Corps’ radar. Also, we’ve only gotten one episode of the DCU series so far – can we slow down on calling it out for not being “Star Wars” or “Star Trek”? Considering the state of both franchises, that’s not exactly the high bar it once was, anyway. “Having said that, the approach seems to have worked, and mainstream reviews of the show are pretty positive, so fair dos,” Morrison noted to wrap up their thoughts on the series opener.
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