With its August premiere still months away, DC Studios’ Lanterns is already one of the most divisive projects in James Gunn’s nascent DC Universe. Aside from a brief shot of Hal Jordan flying, the show’s first teaser trailer contained virtually no special effects or ring constructs, prompting memes, Reddit threads, and enough complaints that the official HBO Max account took notice and made jokes about it. Then an old quote from showrunner Damon Lindelof resurfaced, from when he had joked on a comedy podcast that the show is called Lanterns because they all agreed the word “Green” was “stupid.” The remark gave legendary comics writer Grant Morrison enough ammunition to open fire, publishing a Substack column accusing Hollywood of routinely handing superhero projects to people “ashamed” of the source material and calling Lindelof’s dismissal of the title “jockish.” Now, Lindelof has responded.
“I have upset Grant Morrison, which means I have now pissed off MOST of the brilliant British/Scottish comics writers that I grew up idolizing,” Lindelof said in an Instagram post. The self-deprecating humor refers to his complicated history with Alan Moore. Back in 2019, Lindelof created HBO’s Watchmen sequel series, a continuation of Moore’s landmark 1986-87 graphic novel. Moore, who famously opposes all adaptations of his work and has his name removed from them, was characteristically displeased. “To quote the bard (Otis Redding),” Lindelof added, “this is nobody’s fault but mine.”
“I made a dumb joke on a comedy podcast,” Lindelof directly addressed his previous remarks. “I’m not going to bob and weave about context, the joke was dumb, the fandom is not. I owe them an explanation and a genuine reflection of my actual feelings.” He then reaches back to his origin as a fan, showing up to his first Comic-Con panel for the Lost pilot in 2004 wearing a Hal Jordan T-shirt, because as a kid, Green Lantern was everything to him. “For a quiet, uncoordinated kid, there was nothing cooler than a hero whose superpower was his imagination.” The showrunner also addresses the “stupid” comment directly: “Green is not stupid, it is my lifelong favorite color, and I have a questionnaire that I filled out in third grade to prove it. Green is f-cking awesome.” He closes the apology by staking his credibility on the show itself, underlining that “I’ll let the show speak for itself, and I can’t wait for you all to hear what it has to say.”
Damon Lindelof Didn’t Even Need to Apologize for Lanterns
Image courtesy of DC Studios
Grant Morrison’s broader argument that Hollywood systematically attaches creatives who are embarrassed by superhero conventions to superhero properties, then waters them down, is a legitimate critique of the industry. But aimed at DC Studios specifically, right now, it lands in the wrong place. James Gunn’s Superman was a love letter to the character’s inherent optimism and goofiness, complete with a flying Krypto and a comic-accurate Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion)—bowl cut and all. Then, Peacemaker leans so hard into the absurdity of its premise that it opens with a full cast dance number. These are not the choices of a studio ashamed of its source material. Therefore, there is no real basis for assuming Lanterns is secretly embarrassed to be a Green Lantern story when the studio running it has already shown, twice, that it will go full comic-book when the story calls for it.
The Lanterns trailer’s restrained approach to powers is likely a reflection of how HBO markets television. The network has built its brand on withholding key scenes, and shows such as House of the Dragon, The Last of Us, and The White Lotus frequently have teasers that build up the mystery instead of giving away the plot. The mystery-first structure is a deliberate narrative choice, and it doesn’t mean we won’t get the full Green Lanterns mythology explored on screen.
Image courtesy of DC Studios
As for the title, the case against “Green” being dropped is weaker than it seems once you consider where the show is reportedly going. Lindelof and his co-creators have consistently described Lanterns as a story that begins on Earth before expanding into the cosmos. In addition, Yellow Lantern Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen) is confirmed in the cast, while Red Lantern Atrocitus has been rumored to be featured to some extent. If the series is building toward John Stewart’s (Aaron Pierre) journey off-planet and into a mythology that spans the full emotional spectrum of the Corps, then dropping “Green” from the title makes absolute sense. It may simply be a show about Lanterns, plural and multi-colored, rather than a show limited to one faction of them.
Lanterns will premiere on HBO this August.
Do you agree with Grant Morrison’s criticism of Lanterns, or is it too soon to judge the unaired TV show? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
