{"id":463149,"date":"2026-03-07T20:13:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T20:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/463149\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T20:13:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T20:13:10","slug":"how-lanterns-connects-to-superman-and-james-gunns-dcu-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/463149\/","title":{"rendered":"How Lanterns Connects to Superman and James Gunn’s DCU, Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lanterns released its first official trailer<\/a>, and viewers have a lot of questions about the upcoming HBO TV series. The Lanterns trailer wasn\u2019t what most fans were expecting: Hal Jordan and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) doing their own True Detective riff, with some superhero lore mixed in. Granted, this first trailer was only a tease of what\u2019s to come in the eight episodes of Lanterns that we\u2019re getting. <\/p>\n

Additional trailers and promo materials will likely reveal more of a clear-cut connection to the larger universe that Lanterns<\/a> is a part of. For now, let\u2019s break down what we know so far. <\/p>\n

Is Lanterns Part of The DC Universe Franchise or A Standalone Series? <\/p>\n

\"\"HBO \u2013 DC Studios<\/p>\n

Since DC Studios was created in the fall of 2022, the company has released a mix of shared universe content (Peacemaker, Superman, Creature Commandos) and standalone content that is independent of the shared universe (The Batman: Part II, Joker: Folie A Deux). So it\u2019s fair for viewers to wonder, out loud, whether or not a new DC film or TV show is one they have to \u201cdo the homework\u201d of watching previous shared universe films or shows to understand. <\/p>\n

However different it may look from Superman (2025), or the demented, zany, colorful world of Peacemaker, Lanterns is indeed part of the same DC Universe as those two projects, as well as the Creature Commandos animated series on HBO Max, and the Supergirl movie that\u2019s hitting theaters in late June. <\/p>\n

How Is Lanterns Connected to Superman? <\/p>\n

\"\"Guy Gardner in Superman (2025) \/ DC Studios \u2013 Warner Bros. <\/p>\n

Lanterns is directly connected to James Gunn\u2019s Superman movie, and this has been confirmed by the fact that Superman actor Nathan Fillion will be reprising his DCU role as Green Lantern member Guy Gardner in Lanterns, after also appearing in Peacemaker Season 2. <\/p>\n

In DC comic book lore there are typically two Green Lantern officers assigned to one sector of space (like Earth); we know from Superman that Guy is one active officer of the Green Lantern Corps; Lanterns seems to be focused on Guy\u2019s partner, Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) coming to the end of his service, and training his replacement, former marine-turned-architect, John Stewart (Aaron Pierre). Obviously, at some point, Guy and John will have to meet and start figuring out the dynamics of how their partnership will compare to Guy and Hal\u2019s working relationship. <\/p>\n

What Lanterns may shine light on (pun intended) is how Guy Gardner\u2019s obligations as a Green Lantern weigh against his commitment to groups like the Justice Gang. Working with the JG, Guy is keeping Earth safe and peaceful; however, the job of a Green Lantern is to keep entire planets and solar systems safe. What would happen if Guy has to choose between the two? <\/p>\n

How is Lanterns Connected to the Larger DCU?<\/p>\n

\"\"DC<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear exactly how Lanterns is carving out its lane in the larger DCU \u2013 but there are some popular theories. DC Studios head James Gunn has stated that Lanterns \u201cis really important in setting up things,\u201d in the DCU \u2013 although what that means is, again, unclear. <\/p>\n

The supporting cast of Lanterns is where a lot of intrigue lies, in terms of the larger franchise universe connections: you have Garret Dillahunt playing cowboy \u201cWilliam Macon,\u201d who many expect will be revealed as \u201cBlack Hand,\u201d a Green Lantern villain who becomes the mortal anchor for the death enitty Nekron, and the catalyst for the \u201cBlackest Night\u201d event that shook the entire DC Unvierse in a massive crossover event. Also invovled in that event were former Green Lantern Sinestro (played by Ultrich Thomsen in Lanterns), who created his own fear-powered \u201cYellow Lantern Corps\u201d; and Atrocitus (the suspected role of The Wire actor Paul Ben-Victor), a tragic victim of the Green Lanterns\u2019 predecessors, The Manhunters, who creates the rage-fueled \u201cRed Lantern Corps\u201d to seek vengeance. That\u2019s a lot of coincidence. <\/p>\n

The synopsis for Lanterns teases how \u201cne 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.\u201d While there could be any number of DC Comics stories that are launched off the back of that premise, Blackest Night still seems like the most likely one. Even if you take that particular crossover storyline off the table, it\u2019s clear that Lanterns could be establishing a lot of DC cosmic lore that will touch any number of other properties, from Superman\u2018s sequel Man of Tomorrow, to the Supergirl movie, to anything else that James Gunn and DC Studios may have in the pipeline. As mentioned, the Green Lanterns are an intergalactic police force \u2013 which is why characters like Guy Gardner are the perfect bridge between franchise like Superman, Peacemaker, and whatever the Green Lantern DCU corner looks like after Lanterns. <\/p>\n

DC\u2019s Lanterns Release Date Window & Episode Count<\/p>\n

Lanterns will premiere on HBO sometime in August, and consist of 8 episodes. Talk about your favorite theories with us over on the ComicBook Forum<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lanterns released its first official trailer, and viewers have a lot of questions about the upcoming HBO TV…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":463150,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[9408,89758,96,1155,90639,2839,88885,96773,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-463149","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-dc-studios","9":"tag-dcu-franchise","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-james-gunn","12":"tag-lanterns","13":"tag-movies","14":"tag-regular-feature","15":"tag-superman-2025","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=463149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/463150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=463149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=463149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}