HBO’s New Superhero Show Set In James Gunn’s DCU Is Not What Fans Were Expecting

An HBO show set in James Gunn’s DC Universe is not what fans are expecting, perhaps for the best. Upcoming DC movies will continue to explore Gunn’s new universe, fleshing out its central characters. The story of Supergirl is next in June 2026, with several others following it in the coming years.

In 2026, though, DC will lean into TV shows. When Gunn first announced his new franchise, it was confirmed that TV and video games would be just as important to the wider storytelling as movies, though this has yet to come to fruition thus far. Thankfully, 2026 will change that thanks to the release of an HBO show set in the franchise: Lanterns.

Lanterns Doesn’t Look Like A Typical Superhero Show (& Was Never Supposed To)

The first trailer for Lanterns was released in March 2026, confirming the show will be released on HBO Max in August of that year. The trailer showed first looks at Hal Jordan and John Stewart, the titular heroes of the Green Lantern Corps, who the series will focus on. However, despite this focus, Lanterns did not look like many were expecting.

After all, Hal and John are Green Lanterns, with the trailer being noticeably absent of, well, green. Lanterns‘ trailer did not show giant constructs created using power rings, nor did it even show the two heroes in their supersuits. Instead, Lanterns looked more grounded, gritty, and versed in realism, akin to a show like True Detective.

As is expected, this caused a fair amount of controversy among DC fans. Many wanted the show to better explore the concept of the Green Lantern Corps, and while it may do exactly that upon release, the trailer did not seem to tease as much. The main talking point was just how different Lanterns felt from what comic book fans have come to expect from the Green Lantern stories.

However, Lanterns was never supposed to be a typical superhero show. When it was announced, Gunn described Lanterns as a “terrestrial-based TV show which is almost like True Detective with a couple of Green Lanterns… watching over Precinct Earth.” Evidently, Gunn didn’t want Lanterns to reflect the otherworldly elements of its titular heroes.

Lanterns Will Be Vital To The DC Universe’s Story

What could change Lanterns and make parts of it a more typical superhero show, though, is the ties to the wider DC Universe. After announcing the show as a True Detective-style story, Gunn stated that the crux of the plot centers on a mystery that ties to the broader overarching narrative of the DCU.

What this means, exactly, remains to be seen, but it is hard to imagine the franchise’s wider story being something simple that would be found in any regular detective/cop show. Therefore, it stands to reason that Lanterns‘ later episodes will lean more into the superheroic aspects of Hal Jordan and John Stewart.

By the end of Lanterns season 1, the show will explore exactly how it ties to the story Gunn is setting up, likely making it more of a typical Green Lantern show in the process.

Future Lanterns Seasons Can Make It Like A Previously Unexpected DC Show – With 1 Key Difference

In this sense, Lanterns could learn from an older DC TV show that was equally unexpected, only with a key twist. That show is Legends of Tomorrow, which was part of the CW’s Arrowverse. Legends of Tomorrow began with the same gritty, more realistic tone of Arrow, before leaning more into its goofier, sillier, sci-fi elements as it went on.

Eventually, Legends of Tomorrow became its own beast, sporting a tone and a sci-fi/space opera story that went beyond anything else in the Arrowverse. Lanterns can do exactly the same, should season 1’s mystery reveal lead Hal and John into the wider universe. However, the twist here is that while Legends of Tomorrow becoming more sci-fi in nature differentiated it from the rest of its franchise, Lanterns doing so will bring it closer to its related projects.

The likes of Superman and Supergirl are chock-full of superhero and sci-fi aspects, which arguably made the reaction to Lanterns more excessive than it would’ve been if those films were more grounded. If the latter does become more wide-reaching as it goes on, though, it will be more like those other, more superhero-ish projects in the DCU.

This way, Lanterns will start out as something entirely unexpected, before blending more closely with the wider DC Universe.