Lanterns’ Director Teases the HBO Show’s Tone and ‘Sci-Fi Magic’

The upcoming Lanterns series centers on John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) and Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) using their Green Lantern rings to investigate a mystery on Earth. Given the Green Lantern movie was mostly set on Earth, there was some concern among fans that the show was going to repeat that film’s mistakes. But according to director James Hawes, the show will do right by the heroes’ cosmic scope.

In an interview with Collider, Hawes assured there wouldn’t be any shortage of “sci-fi magic” amid its Nebraska setting. “It’s done in a world where you accept that these things just are,” he said of Lanterns‘ fantastical elements. As someone without much superhero experience before this project, he said he was “bewitched” by his foray into the genre. “You always find a scene or two that you think, ‘I can’t wait to be beside the camera and the cast, directing this scene.’ You know this is something you have to take seriously, and that absolutely happened with Lanterns.”

Hawes continued with mentions of the show’s humor—it’s “very particular” and his episodes will hopefully be similar to his work on Slow Horses and Black Mirror—and its “electric” cast. Of Pierre and Chandler, he felt they brought “charm” and “authenticity” to their roles. “These are two people you just want to hang out with. [….] You want to go on that journey. You get people who are just so classy and so busy inhabiting their roles, so you never doubt it. They’re not on the outside—they’re deep in those skins.”

Lanterns is scheduled to release on Max and HBO sometime in 2026.

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