The first teaser trailer for DCU’s Lanterns screened at HBO Max’s Upfront event in São Paulo on November 25, and while the footage hasn’t been released to the public yet, the description shared by Omelet suggests where James Gunn is heading with the Green Lantern Corps.
The teaser confirms that Hal Jordan and John Stewart two have been working together for months in a rural, True Detective kind of setting, and their dynamic is built on tension rather than mentorship. Right now, everything points to John Stewart being positioned as the Green Lantern who eventually joins the Justice League.
Lanterns’ First Trailer Confirms That Hal Jordan Is Training John Stewart
In the Lanterns teaser, Hal and John have been training together for months, but Jordan is his substitute teacher. Though, who Jordan is filling in for was not revealed. John Stewart and Hal Jordan argue, with the younger hero telling the veteran that he is better at saving people. But it sounds like the Lanterns trailer holds a surprising twist.
It sounds like the Lanterns trailer withholds a surprising twist, the result of an arrogant student who thinks he’s already surpassed the teacher, which usually means he’s about to learn a hard lesson. The “substitute teacher” framing is a key detail.
Hal isn’t John’s permanent mentor, he’s filling in for someone else, so that temporary status reinforces that Hal’s role in the DCU is transitional, and John is being set up as the Green Lantern who sticks around.
Lanterns Is Setting Up John Stewart To Be The DCU’s Main Green Lantern
Lanterns showrunner Chris Mundy revealed the show is “in a lot of ways about replacement,” expanding on that with a question: “When should someone step aside and when is it time for the next person to take the reins?” That tease might disappoint Lanterns fans who were hoping for a larger Hal Jordan role in the DCU.
It’s not exactly subtle, either. The show is about Hal stepping aside so John can take over. In real life, Kyle Chandler is 60 years old, and Aaron Pierre is 31, and the age gap alone tells you which Green Lantern the DCU is building around for the long term.
James Gunn has already said the show will be important in setting up the wider DCU, and if John is the Green Lantern being groomed to lead, that means he’s the one who eventually joins the Justice League when Gunn gets around to assembling the team.
John Stewart Will Likely Be A Founding Member Of James Gunn’s Justice League
Green Lantern and Hawkgirl in Justice League
The DCU hasn’t officially announced a Justice League project yet, but it’s inevitable. Superman and Peacemaker season 2 already laid the groundwork with the Justice Gang, and Gunn has made it clear that the larger universe is being built with interconnected storytelling in mind. When the Justice League does assemble, John Stewart is the obvious choice to represent the Green Lantern Corps.
Hal Jordan could theoretically fill that role, but everything about Lanterns suggests he won’t be around long enough to make that work. John Stewart, on the other hand, fits perfectly into the kind of Justice League Gunn is likely building. He’s younger, he’s already being trained to operate at the highest level, and he’s positioned as the Green Lantern the DCU is investing in for the future.
The trailer doesn’t spell it out, but the setup is clear. Hal is training John because John is the one who’s going to carry the Green Lantern legacy into the next phase of the DCU, and that phase almost certainly includes the Justice League. There’s no set release date for Lanterns, but it’s expected to premiere sometime in the late summer of 2026.
Network
HBO
Directors
James Hawes
Writers
Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof
Aaron Pierre
John Stewart
Kelly Macdonald
Sheriff Kerry
