2026's Green Lantern TV Show Will Officially Introduce DC's Own Doctor Doom

2026's Green Lantern TV show in the new DCU, officially titled Lanterns, will give this franchise a Doctor Doom-esque villain as part of its story. Doom is set for a major resurgence on the big screen, with Robert Downey Jr. embodying the Latverian Fantastic Four villain in the MCU's next massive team-up movie, Avengers: Doomsday. However, DC will also add to its own legacy of ultra-powerful villains this year as well.

Ulrich Thomsen is set to portray the villainous Sinestro in DC Studios' upcoming Lanterns series, debuting on HBO Max this year. Known as arguably the Green Lantern's most powerful villain in history, many have also compared the red-skinned DC antagonists to one of Marvel Comics' most iconic villains, Victor Von Doom (who will also make his big-screen return in 2026 within the MCU).

On his own, in DC Comics, Thaal Sinestro is regarded at one point as the greatest and most powerful member of the Green Lantern Corps. He is eventually corrupted by his own power and exiled for crimes against his own people, and he changes weapons from the Green Lantern Ring to the Yellow Lantern Ring. This leads to Sinestro establishing his own new corps and ruling over the galaxy with an iron fist.

Meanwhile, Marvel's Victor Von Doom is depicted as the ruler of the Eastern European nation of Latveria, and he is known for his skills in science and magic (magic that will be shown for the first time in live-action in Avengers: Doomsday). After a long rivalry with Reed Richards in college, he was left scarred by a machine he used to make contact with his late mother. Eventually making a suit of armor and mask with the help of a tribe of monks, he returned to Latveria to take over the country as its new leader.

At their cores, Doom and Sinestro's most notable similarity is their status as authoritarian villains who represent powerful establishments. Sinestro makes his name in law enforcement, both as a member of the Green Lantern Corps and with his own corps of officers, while Doom finds his way into power when he takes over as Latveria's dictator.

Considering their positions of power, they both function as stand-ins for certain types of establishment-based bad guys. They have both been seen as fascist, and in Sinestro's case, his Corps can sometimes be compared to over-the-top violent cops. For Doom, his methods have been compared to the worst of European leadership over the years.  The biggest difference between the two is that Doom is born into power, while Sinestro swears an oath to the Lantern Corps and overextends his authority and power from that post.

The two are also comparable from a power perspective and in terms of their intelligence. Doom and Sinestro are both regarded as genius-level characters, and they both have particularly advanced proficiency with technology. Sinestro is best known for his mastery of Lantern Rings of multiple colors, and Doom has created incredibly advanced machines that can make weapons and forcefields, manipulate time, alter reality, and more (which also use his skills in magic).

Also notable about both villains is that their allegiances to good and evil have varied over the years, as they have gone from anti-hero to villain on numerous occasions. 

Sinestro's origins with the Green Lantern Corps are well-noted, as he started off fighting for justice and law across the galaxy, even if his methods were too intense or violent. In Doom's case, even though he is oftentimes a dictator who rules with a heavy hand, he believes his methods are necessary to bring about true world peace and global security; he has even saved the multiverse from destruction by becoming almost as powerful as a god (he is often compared to Thanos power-wise).

Lanterns will be the third new HBO Max show released in the new DC Universe under DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran. Starring Aaron Pierre, Kyle Chandler, Ulrich Thomsen, Nathan Fillion, and Jeremy Irvine, the show will pit John Stewart and Hal Jordan together as they investigate an undisclosed mystery on Earth as part of the Green Lantern Corps. Lanterns is expected to debut on HBO Max in late summer.

What To Expect From Sinestro in Green Lantern TV Show

While Sinestro will be the latest in an exciting group of villains coming to the DCU, his story in Lanterns is still being kept completely under wraps. Considering how little footage Warner Bros. and DC Studios have released for the show as of early 2026, his story may be mostly a mystery until the show gets closer to its debut date.

For now, fans know that Hal Jordan will be depicted as a veteran member of the Green Lanterns when he finds John Stewart on Earth and inducts him into the group. This could mean Sinestro may still be a Green Lantern when the show's main plot starts, giving fans an opportunity to see his turn to darkness and his defection from the group of heroes.

While this is not Sinestro's first time in live-action (that honor going to DC veteran Mark Strong in 2011's Green Lantern movie), this show should give him the most depth he's ever had on screen. Fans also believe DC has plans to use Sinestro long after Lanterns' first season ends, as Thomsen teased his eventual return to the franchise after Lanterns finished filming.

Sinestro could very well end up being initially depicted as a hero next to Stewart and Jordan before his expected villainous turn later in the series. With so little to go on for this show's plot, DC is sure to tease more of what will happen later this year once the marketing campaign moves further along.