A grounded cosmic mystery opens with a shocking future reveal that instantly reframes everything that follows.
HBO’s Lanterns gets off to an excellent start, delivering a premiere that feels less like a traditional superhero story and more like True Detective meets a buddy-cop mentor-mentee drama—with a little cosmic weirdness thrown in for good measure. The first episode balances humor, mystery, character development, and tension surprisingly well, while Kyle Chandler immediately establishes Hal Jordan as the kind of character you can't help but watch.
Set primarily in 2016, the premiere follows rookie Green Lantern John Stewart (Aaron Pierre), who has spent months training without ever actually using his power ring because his mentor, Hal, has essentially disappeared on him. When the two finally meet, their relationship gets off to a hilariously rocky start, with Hal testing John's instincts in a way that tells us almost everything we need to know about him. Chandler is fantastic as the cocky, experienced Hal, while Pierre gives John a grounded frustration that makes their unlikely partnership work. Their investigation into a mysterious incident in Rushville gradually opens the door to something much bigger, involving extraterrestrial threats, a secretive militia, and questions about what exactly is happening in this seemingly quiet corner of Nebraska.
But it's that final moment that really got my attention. The episode jumps ahead to 2026, where John returns to Rushville and discovers Hal's frozen body sitting in the football stands—with a bullet hole in his head and his Green Lantern ring missing. Suddenly, everything we've watched takes on a completely different meaning, and the premiere leaves us with one massive question: What happened to Hal Jordan? If this first episode is any indication, Lanterns is setting itself up to be a dark, character-driven mystery where the superhero mythology may be just as important as the people trying to solve the crime. Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.
Have you watched the Lanterns premiere? What did you think of the Hal Jordan mystery? Leave a comment.
You can catch Lanterns on HBO on Sunday.
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