'Lanterns' Co-Creator Officially Confirms Season 2 Is in Early Development [Exclusive]

Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for the 'Lanterns' Season 1 finale.Easily one of the most positive aspects of James Gunn and Peter Safran's DCU is the wide diversity in genre of every project thus far. So far we've gotten Creature Commandos, an animated series following a Suicide Squad-like ensemble; Peacemaker Season 2, a character-driven sci-fi series that shines a bright light on mental health; Superman, a glossy callback to the Man of Steel's golden age of comics; and Supergirl, a planet-hopping space opera. Before the DCU returns to theaters this month with the body horror Batman spin-off Clayface, another TV chapter has officially drawn to a close with the True Detective-inspired sci-fi series Lanterns.

The new HBO series, which follows John Stewart's (Aaron Pierre) tumultuous relationship with Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler), has drawn rave reviews from fans and critics alike. Season 1 definitively brought the mind-bending mystery to a close, with John solving the mystery behind Hal's murder and finally accepting his role as Earth's Green Lantern, despite Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) having the official title and the fact that John is using an unauthorized lantern battery created by Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen). This may bring John's origin story to a close, but questions still remain as to what's next for the sci-fi hero.

To discuss the Season 1 finale, Lanterns co-creator Damon Lindelof spoke with Collider's Steve Weintraub, and the subject of a potential Season 2 eventually came up. While Lindelof has opted not to return for a second season, saying he does "not know anything" on what the sophomore story could be, he did confirm that Season 2 of the series is in the early stages of development. Lindelof even went as far to say that "Where there's a will, there's a way" in regard to continuing Hal's story even after his death. The series has yet to receive an official renewal from HBO, but the fact that a preliminary writers' room has seemingly opened is a very positive sign:

"I can only tell you that everybody in the Season 1 room, inclusive of the writers who are working on ideating on Season 2, felt like even though we knew that it was going to be emotionally devastating and/or disappointing and maybe even frustrating, that the worst possible schmuck-baity thing that we could do is show you a pilot where Hal Jordan was definitively dead, and then try to walk it back and say, 'Oh, he was a clone' or 'He's only mostly dead' in the Princess Bride vernacular. In terms of like moving forward into subsequent seasons of the show, I swear to you, as I look at you in the eye on Wednesday this 30th of September, I do not know anything about the creative, and I wouldn't want to hamstring those writers in any way for what future storytelling mechanisms they could indulge in. Knowing what the comics have done with Parallax — and Hal, I think, has died at least 3 or 4 times over the course of the canon, and celebrating everything that Kyle did in his performance to get the audience to fall in love with Hal."

John Stewart Will Return in James Gunn's 'Man of Tomorrow'

Lanterns' writing team working on the ideation of Season 2, plus the stellar critical and viewership success of Season 1, are all positive signs that point to renewal. That said, even if Lanterns doesn't get renewed and opts to live out its days as a miniseries, fans can rest easy, as it has already been confirmed that John Stewart will return in James Gunn's Superman follow-up, Man of Tomorrow. While Gunn has insisted it's not exactly a sequel to 2025's Superman, Clark Kent (David Corenswet) and Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) will both return to forge an unlikely alliance against the sinister Brainiac (Lars Eidinger). John Stewart isn't the only fan-favorite hero returning either, as Milly Alcock and Xolo Maridueña are also both set to return as Supergirl and Blue Beetle, respectively.

Lanterns Season 1 is streaming now on HBO Max. Man of Tomorrow soars into theaters on July 9, 2027.

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  Hal Jordan

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  Aaron Pierre

  John Stewart

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  Sheriff Kerry Kane

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  William 'Will' Macon