Commentary: ‘Lanterns’ Has The Bones Of A Good Story
by Frank Martin
Perhaps no recent addition into the superhero discourse has drawn as much controversy as Lanterns, and with good reason. The grounded take on the Green Lantern mythology is a far departure from the science fiction space epic comic book readers recognize. Besides the radical departure in tone, the series also makes a series of dramatic choices for its characters, which include a very negative skew on Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and a traumatic childhood for John Stewart (Aaron Pierre). However, despite all of these criticisms, Lanterns still has the bones of a good story, even if it made some poor decisions along the way.
The series is a story about generations as it focuses on the current Green Lantern, Jordan, and his replacement, Stewart. It also focuses on two separate time periods. The first takes place in 2016, when Hal is drawn to rural Nebraska in search of a Manhunter — a dangerous intergalactic war criminal who has taken the form of a woman named Zoe (Poorna Jagannathan). After that mission ends disastrously with John and Hal fighting over the ring, the story fast forwards ten years later, when John investigates Hal’s murder.
These developments received a lot of criticism for being a far departure from the established Green Lantern mythos. In the source material, the Green Lanterns aren’t at odds with one another. They are friends and each have their own ring rather than fighting over just one. There was also a very limited number of constructs made with the ring, which is a main feature of a Green Lantern story. Despite these departures, it is still a unique and fresh take on the characters. The bones of a new and interesting story are there. If only a few tweaks were made to some of the details, Lanterns could have been much better received than it was.
Lanterns is now streaming on HBO Max.
