HBO's upcoming Lanterns series won't be the Green Lantern fans remember from 2011. Ryan Reynolds' superhero role (before he was Deadpool) saw the actor lead a multimillion-dollar flop, as DC struggled to get its main comic book heroes off the ground ahead of the initial DCEU. Green Lantern was the first attempt to bring the iconic Justice League member to the screen in a solo film, but DC Studios is trying something a bit different this second go around.
Lanterns will be set in the new DCU and introduce audiences to a new era of ring-bearing cosmic superheroes. Rather than launch the Green Lanterns in a solo film, DC Studios opted to put the heroes in an HBO series created by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King. But the format isn't the only confirmed difference between 2011's Green Lantern film and 2026's Lanterns series.
3 Notable Differences Between Ryan Reynolds' Green Lantern and Lanterns
Multiple Earth-based Green Lanterns
2011's Green Lantern was something of a fish-out-of-water story for Reynolds' Hal Jordan, as he was the only human Green Lantern representing Earth among the intergalactic team. However, in HBO's Lanterns, Hal Jordan (played by Kyle Chandler) isn't the only Green Lantern on Earth, as he's joined by Aaron Pierre's John Stewart and Nathan Fillion's Guy Gardner, who was already seen in action in Superman.
Additionally, Chandler's Jordan isn't in the same stage of life as Reynolds'. The 2011 film essentially serves as an origin story for Hal Jordan as a Green Lantern. Meanwhile, in Lanterns, Chandler's character serves more as a mentor to his younger Green Lantern partner (although the two projects will share the same DC villain).
Shifting this dynamic with multiple Earth-based Green Lanterns and altering aspects of Hal Jordan's character definitively distinguishes Lanterns' take on the Green Lantern mythology.
A Change in Tone
In 2011, Green Lantern was attempting to compete with the big-budget superhero films of the time, including Captain America: The First Avenger, X-Men: First Class, and Thor. As such, its tone was that of an action-packed sci-fi, with elements of comedy and heavy visual effects.
Lanterns is switching things up by ditching the typical superhero genre and putting the Green Lantern story in a crime-mystery tone. Hal Jordan and John Stewart are paired up as a buddy cop-type duo, investigating a mystery on Earth. The series has been likened several times to HBO's True Detective, suggesting this will be a much more grounded take on the superhero genre than the 2011 film.
All the marketing for Lanterns so far also seems to suggest it will largely take place on Earth, and no superpowers or Green Lantern super suits have been promoted in the trailers. While the intergalactic setting and superhero tropes were a big aspect of Green Lantern, the HBO series instead leans heavily into its grounded tone by keeping things on Earth and with limited visual effects (as far as we know).
DCU Interconnectivity
Green Lantern's release didn't launch DC's cinematic universe as many executives had hoped. Instead, that came two years later with Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, and the DCEU moved forward with little interest in connecting back to Green Lantern. To this day, one of the few films that references Green Lantern is Reynolds' other superhero film, Deadpool.
That won't be the case with Lanterns, as the series is confirmed to be part of the DCEU and will contain connective tissue with other projects.
It's already been confirmed that Superman's Guy Gardner will be part of the series, connecting Lanterns to the DCU's flagship film. It's also been hinted by James Gunn that Peacemaker Season 2's introduction of Checkmate and the prison planet Salvation will play a big role in the DCU's future, including potentially Lanterns, making the series an essential building block in DC's cinematic future, unlike Green Lantern, which is fairly standalone.
