Lanterns may be setting up John Stewart becoming a Yellow Lantern in a shocking finale twist that was spoiled by James Gunn several years ago. Gunn announced HBO's Lanterns over three years ago in January 2023 with the DCU Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters slate reveal. The DC Studios co-CEO confirmed that Lanterns would focus on Hal Jordan and John Stewart, although the special video only featured comic imagery, as Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre wouldn't board the space-cop saga until late 2024. That imagery came from Green Lantern: Earth One, an alternate-universe story released from 2018 to 2019, and was later reused when Gunn confirmed Lanterns' greenlight in 2024.
John Stewart becomes a Yellow Lantern in Green Lantern: Earth One, as showcased in artwork from the unique sci-fi storyline that has also been used to promote HBO's Lanterns. Interestingly, Lanterns has seemingly laid the groundwork for Aaron Pierre's John Stewart to become a Yellow Lantern, according to one theory, meaning that the twist was spoiled three years ago.
Lanterns already confirmed that the choice of Earth-One imagery was far from random and has proven very representative of the HBO show. Both stories present a grounded, gritty take on the Emerald Knight, involve the Manhunters, include conflict between Hal and John, and even feature a similar Green Lantern suit.
Unlike the will-powered Green Lantern rings, their yellow counterparts are fueled by fear, something John claims to lack completely, as his parents knocked any sense of terror out of him throughout his whole childhood. Finally embracing fear after a lifetime of fighting it would take John's arc full circle as he tosses aside his emerald aspirations to become one of the DCU's first Yellow Lanterns.
The Yellow Lantern Corps is infamously founded by Thaal Sinestro (played in Lanterns by Ulrich Thomsen) after he left his emerald past behind to create his own fear-fueled group instead. The DCU makes it clear that Sinestro turned against the Guardians of the Universe and killed one of their own before Hal landed him in prison, but there has been no hint of a Yellow Lantern ring yet.
John and Sinestro are on the homeworld of Paul Ben-Victor's Antaan, the alien who appeared in Rushville to hunt down the Manhunter. That whole world is enveloped in a gas that causes people to get "so f***ing scared" before becoming homicidal and suicidal, which sounds like the ideal place to forge a fear-based power ring; not to mention, the planet has a strong yellowish tint at times.
Sinestro seems to be hiding out in a factory with a forge on the unnamed alien world, where he may be planning to craft himself a yellow ring. Perhaps Sinestro will also craft one for John as one of his first recruits, or the former Marine could even steal his while bringing her grand-mentor to justice.
The Episode 8 trailer focuses heavily on fear, with Sinestro declaring that "fear can be the most powerful force in the universe" and even the Halogram telling John, be afraid to be afraid." That seems to be encouraging John to go down this fear-driven path of becoming a Yellow Lantern, perhaps to avoid becoming like Hal, as he says earlier that he is only fearless because he is "broken."
The finale promo also confirmed that Guy will once again be summoned to Rushville's Green Lantern signal, and John has brought a power battery. As John currently has no power battery, that one may be forged by Sinestro to charge a new yellow ring, thereby allowing Guy to continue as Earth's sole Green Lantern and maintaining the Guardians' rule of one Emerald Knight per sector.
Lanterns confused many by omitting the green from the title, with most theorizing that DC Studios was either trying to distance itself from Ryan Reynolds' Green Lantern flop or hinting at multiple ring colors appearing in the HBO series. The season ending with John as a Yellow Lantern and Guy as a Green Lantern would neatly resolve any confusion surrounding the title ahead of a potential Season 2.
Lanterns Has Been Setting Up John Stewart's Yellow Lantern Twist All Along
In general, there has been a clear excess of yellow in Lanterns, from the trim around Hal Jordan's ring to the bright shine on the series' title card. Those details prompted many to theorize that Hal will become Parallax in Lanterns, an evil version of himself who bonds with an ancient fear entity, although that narrative looks less plausible with each passing week, namely after his unexplained death.
Showrunner Chris Mundy previously hinted at Sinestro's major role in Lanterns as it explores the "coaching tree" and what the rogue Lantern passed on to Hal, and, by extension, how that trickled down to John Stewart. That premise hasn't yet been explored in a significant way in Lanterns, but perhaps it finally will be in the Season 1 finale now that Sinestro has truly entered the fray.
John has spent Lanterns' entire first season trying to be fearless, believing that is what it takes to fulfill his destiny and become a Green Lantern. It isn't a stretch to speculate that John will finally learn to embrace fear under Sinestro's direction, leading him to become a Yellow Lantern, as he did in Green Lantern: Earth One.
There is a high chance that John will still become a Green Lantern in the widely expected Lanterns Season 2, even if he spends time as a Yellow Lantern first. That could even lead John to lean into fear when he returns next July as one of many superheroes in James Gunn's Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow.
