Lanterns made one major change to Hal Jordan's backstory that has set tongues wagging in the DC community. The HBO Max series' showrunner has now confirmed this change, explaining the rationale behind it. Since it premiered on the streamer on August 16, Lanterns has made many interesting alterations to Green Lantern lore, with Aaron Pierre's John Stewart being a vegan among them. The twist on Abin Sur's backstory was another significant one, and as the episodes progress, more major twists reveal themselves.
Lanterns Episode 7, titled "The Jordan Boys' Legacy," is one of the more emotional episodes in the eight-episode series. In the episode, it is revealed that Hal Jordan's father, Martin Jordan, committed suicide by crashing his plane on purpose, which is a significant change to the source material. In the comics, Hal's father, Martin Jordan, is a test pilot who tragically dies in a crash that Hal witnesses, a trauma that sets him on the path to becoming a pilot himself and, eventually, a Green Lantern.
The show rewrites that history. In "The Jordan Boys' Legacy," Hal reveals that his father died by suicide, deliberately crashing his plane. It is a devastating retcon, though notably, Martin Jordan was himself a later addition to the mythology, created by Christopher Priest and Mark Bright for 1989's Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn #1.
Showrunner Chris Mundy explained the reasoning behind the change in a conversation with The Wrap. "Before we rolled camera, he knew the pain his character held so that he could incorporate that however he does, in his sort of brilliant way, into the performance he was giving," Mundy said of Kyle Chandler.
"When you're playing around with the canon, you have to treat it like you're handling plutonium," co-creator Damon Lindelof also chipped in during the conversation. "But at the same time, there's kind of no fun and creativity and originality in that, so you simultaneously sort of have to start to kind of iterate," he added.
The majority of the episode takes viewers back to 1975, showing a young Hal's stubborn resolve and the bond he shared with his father, Martin. As sweet as their relationship is, the flashbacks also make clear that Martin is a deeply troubled person underneath the stoic demeanor he projects.
The twist on Martin's death is revealed through the Halogram, the backup of Hal's consciousness from 2006 stored inside his Green Lantern ring. Martin left behind a note in his safe saying he believed his family was better off without him, and Martin's own father left a similar note before him, a grim inheritance passed down through generations of Jordan boys.
The episode makes clear, however, that Hal refuses to follow the same path. In the flashback, a young Hal clings to a baseball after a game, and his father tells him he cannot hold on to it forever, calling it "exhausting." Hal does hurl the ball over a nearby fence, earning a "That's a great arm, kid" from Martin, but he later goes back to retrieve it, a sign of his determination to cling to life. This history has a huge influence on who Hal becomes, a fearless pilot who eventually inherits the Green Lantern ring. Or, as the Halogram puts it, "he is not fearless because he is brave. He is fearless because he is broken."
Hal's Backstory Has a Significant Impact On Lanterns' Central Mystery
The Hal Jordan origin twist could be a potential misdirect. Hal dies under mysterious circumstances in the pilot, and the show's 2026 timeline has since revolved around John trying to solve the mystery of his mentor's murder after serving prison time for the Manhunter disaster in Rushville, a catastrophe he was blamed for, and returning to a town that hated him. Per Hal's autopsy, the trajectory of the bullet in his head indicated that someone else pulled the trigger.
Yet his new backstory paints the picture of a deeply unhappy man, one who might have been capable of taking his own life. Still, everything viewers have seen of Hal suggests he was looking forward to a new chapter, especially considering he had finally won over Kerry, the woman he had longed to be with since 2016.
As for the potential killers, Noah Macon is suspected to be a Manhunter just like his grandmother Zoe, which makes him a key suspect in the murder. Then there is Sinestro, who was broken out of his extraterrestrial prison under mysterious circumstances and has shown a desire to corrupt Hal with fear. Perhaps he knows something about the Green Lantern's demise.
In the episode, John and the Halogram find Sinestro stranded on a dead alien world that Hal can access through a portal in his vault. It is possible that Hal freed Sinestro from prison, and the two struck some kind of plan or agreement tied to his demise. Luckily, viewers do not have to wait long for answers, since the season finale arrives on October 4.
Geraldo Amartey is a writer at The Direct. He joined the team in 2025, bringing with him four years of experience covering entertainment news, pop culture, and fan-favorite franchises for sites like YEN, Briefly and Tuko.
