James Gunn confirms Lanterns series with Watchmen showrunner

Last Updated on May 28, 2024

He who watches the watchmen must light the lantern. Damon Lindelof, who ran HBO’s adaptation of Watchmen, will now take charge of a Green Lantern series titled Lanterns. And he’s not the only major name attached.

As James Gunn posted on social media over the weekend: “Yes, it’s true. The Lanterns DCU series is putting together a crack team of writers, based on a wonderful pilot script and bible by Chris Mundy, Tom King, and Damon Lindelof. A hearty welcome to Chris and @damonlindelof as they join the DC Studios family (no welcome necessary for old @tomking_tk, who has been here nearly since inception).”

Outside of Watchmen, Lindelof was of course a key contributor to Lost. As Gunn noted, Lanterns will also feature work by Ozark’s Chris Mundy and DC comics staple Tom King. Others that have been tied to the show include The Strain’s Justin Britt-Gibson, The Penguin’s Brennah Gibson and Animal Kingdom’s Vanessa Baden Kelly.

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Lanterns is the most recent attempt to get the DC property on the small screen. It had previously undergone a significant retooling even after then-showrunner Seth Grahame-Smith had completed writing eight episodes. But James Gunn and company hadn’t given up on the series despite rumors to the contrary stemming from behind-the-scenes turmoil, pushing forward under this new iteration.

As for what to expect from Lanterns, Gunn stated prior, “This is a story of a couple of Green Lanterns: John Stewart and Hal Jordan, and we have a few other Lanterns peppered in there, but this is really a terrestrial-based TV show, which is almost like True Detective with a couple of Green Lanterns who are space cops watching over precinct Earth. In it, they discover a terrifying mystery that ties into our larger story of the DCU.”

No cast has been announced at this point but Hal Jordan was previously played by Ryan Reynolds while John Stewart has mostly appeared in animated series but was originally set to appear in Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

Do you have high hopes for Lanterns? What do you expect the team to bring to the series and DC Universe?