The release window for DC's new Green Lantern TV show has narrowed, as HBO makes some announcements about its upcoming 2026 slate. Lanterns is set to debut on HBO and HBO Max sometime next year, introducing the world to the DCU's take on the classic ring-wearing heroes Hal Jordan and John Stewart. While the series stands as one of the network's tentpole titles for 2026, relatively little is known about when exactly it will see the light of day.
HBO may have offered some clarity on that front with a pair of new announcements. The first came with the premium cable network detailing its release plan for the hotly anticipated Game of Thrones spin-off, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which will debut in January, and the second (and more recent) saw HBO reveal that Season 3 of Euphoria has been given a "Spring 2026" release window.
With these two major players now on the board, fans may have a better idea of when Lanterns will get its moment in the sun. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will kick off its first season on January 18, 2026, before coming to an end six weeks later on February 22, 2026. So, there is a very real chance Lanterns arrives sometime after that.
For months, the only release information fans have had about the new Green Lantern TV show came from a February 2025 conversation between Deadline and DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter Safran. In that, Gunn disclosed Lanterns was set for "early 2026."
Many had taken this to mean the series would debut sometime between January and March 2026.
With Euphoria now planting its flag on the calendar as Spring, that likely means Lanterns will either come before that, or side-step its 'early 2026' branding and come out after.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms should be done and dusted by the end of February, leaving plenty of room for a potential eight-week run for Lanterns, while still getting Euphoria into its Spring window. This would see Lanterns start sometime in early March, concluding around the end of April, leaving late April/early May for Euphoria to slot in.
Lanterns will star Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre as a pair of Green Lanterns, Hal Jordan and John Stewart. The upcoming DCU epic has been described as a space-faring True Detective-esque mystery, following the pair of heroes as they investigate a grisly string of crimes that takes them from America's heartland to the far reaches of the cosmos.
Why 2026 Is a Massive Year for DC Studios
After hitting it big with its debut movie, Superman, in 2025, and then continuing the wave of momentum into Peacemaker Season 2, 2026 is going to be massive for the newly-launched DCU.
With this new information from HBO, it is assumed that Lanterns will kick off DC Studios' year, likely coming sometime in March or April. From there, the franchise will head back to theaters with the Milly Alcock-led Supergirl movie on June 26, 2026.
The only other thing on the DCU calendar at this point, beyond that, is the body horror comic book scarefest, Clayface, which is set to come to theaters on September 11, 2026.
It is assumed, but not confirmed, that the franchise will have even more fans to enjoy in the latter half of the year. Nothing is filming that could slot into that spot, but some have speculated that following Clayface is where the in-development second season of Creature Commandos could hit (read more about Creature Commandos Season 2 here).
This would put Lanterns, Supergirl, Clayface, and Creature Commandos as the franchise's tentpole DCU titles for 2026, with the potential of other Elseworlds projects filling out the DC Studios calendar.
