HBO Drops First Lanterns Trailer — Kyle Chandler And Aaron Pierre Bring The Green Lanterns To Life In A True Detective-Style DC Mystery
The highly anticipated DC Studios series sets an August 2026 premiere on HBO and Max
The rings have been chosen. The trailer has landed. And DC's most anticipated small-screen project just officially announced its arrival.
HBO has released the official teaser trailer for Lanterns, set to debut on HBO this August and available same-day on HBO Max. From DC Studios and Warner Bros. Television, the series stars Kyle Chandler, Aaron Pierre, and Kelly MacDonald.
The trailer opens with Hal Jordan (Chandler) driving a car directly off a cliff and jumping out, leaving new recruit John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) to figure it out in real time. John survives, using his Green Lantern abilities under pure duress, before confronting Hal immediately. "I could have died," John says. "You wanted me to train you — I'm trainin' you," Hal fires back.
This is not your father's superhero show — and it's nothing like that 2011 Ryan Reynolds film.
Instead of leaning on the usual superhero spectacle, Lanterns looks like it's going to sit inside the mystery for a while — more late-night detective drama that happens to have power rings than summer blockbuster. The True Detective comparison has been the creative team's reference point since day one, and the trailer makes clear they fully committed to it.
The series follows new recruit John Stewart and Lantern legend Hal Jordan — two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, Earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland. Kelly MacDonald plays Kerry, a small-town sheriff. Nathan Fillion also reprises his role as Guy Gardner from James Gunn's Superman film.
The creative team behind the series is a major reason the anticipation has been so high. The show was created by Chris Mundy (Ozark showrunner), Damon Lindelof (The Leftovers, Watchmen), and DC Comics writer Tom King. Mundy has said the show is "in a lot of ways about replacement — when should someone step aside and when is it time for the next person to take the reins?"
The casting choices alone signal what kind of show this is meant to be. Chandler is best known for Friday Night Lights, Bloodline, and Yellowjackets — casting that immediately signals HBO is treating this as prestige drama, not a conventional superhero vehicle. Pierre broke through with his performance in Rebel Ridge and The Underground Railroad, bringing exactly the kind of interior, grounded intensity the role requires.
The trailer offers glimpses of the Green Lantern costumes, flight, power rings, and the iconic Green Lantern power battery — but most of the runtime is devoted to Hal and John doing True Detective-esque things in a small town that doesn't seem to welcome them with open arms. There's also a brief, blink-and-miss-it reference to a squirrel Green Lantern — almost certainly a nod to Ch'p from the comics — which sent fans immediately into a spiral.
The series is executive produced by Mundy, Lindelof, James Gunn, Peter Safran, Tom King, Ron Schmidt, and James Hawes, who directs the first two episodes.
Lanterns is scheduled to premiere in August 2026 on HBO and Max, consisting of eight episodes. It will be part of the DCU's Chapter One: Gods and Monsters.