Lanterns Review: ★★★★½ (4.5/5)
Lanterns takes one of DC’s most cosmic superhero concepts and grounds it in a slow-burning small-town murder mystery, powered by outstanding performances from Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre. It is easily DC’s best television offering in years.
Rating: ★★★★½ (4.5/5)
Platform: JioHotstar (India), HBO (Worldwide)
Genre: Superhero, Crime Drama
Episodes: 8
Cast: Kyle Chandler, Aaron Pierre, Nathan Fillion, Kelly Macdonald, Laura Linney
Green Lanterns are supposed to be among DC’s biggest and most cosmic heroes, capable of flying through space and building anything they can imagine out of pure willpower. So it is a genuinely strange choice to introduce them through a murder investigation in a dusty Nebraska town.
Strange, but it turns out to be exactly the right call. Lanterns is the best thing DC has put out since The Batman, and it gets there by doing less, not more.
The HBO series follows veteran Green Lantern Hal Jordan, played by Kyle Chandler, who is assigned to mentor a younger recruit named John Stewart, played by Aaron Pierre.
Their first case together sends them to investigate a mysterious murder in small-town America, a case that slowly reveals itself to be much bigger than either of them expected.
Around them is a strong supporting cast that includes Kelly Macdonald as a skeptical local sheriff, Laura Linney, Poorna Jagannathan, Jason Ritter, and Nathan Fillion as the scene-stealing Guy Gardner. The murder mystery pulls you in, but it is Hal and John who make you stay.
What makes the show work so well right from the start is the tension between its two leads, and the series smartly never rushes to smooth it over.
Hal is experienced and confident, but also carrying years of quiet burnout from the job. Kyle Chandler plays him with just the right mix of swagger and exhaustion, making him someone who can be genuinely irritating one moment and deeply human the next.
Aaron Pierre, on the other hand, gives John a seriousness that never feels flat. He is not simply a rookie waiting to inherit Hal’s legacy. He has his own values, his own caution, and his own idea of what being a Lantern should actually mean.
Their chemistry never feels forced. Much of the humor comes from genuine irritation, two men who clearly would rather not be stuck in a car together, yet underneath that friction, a real respect slowly builds. That relationship becomes the emotional core of the entire show.
The murder investigation itself unfolds with real patience. The series takes its time letting viewers get to know the town, its people, and the secrets everyone seems to be hiding.
Comparisons to True Detective are hard to avoid here, with its dusty landscapes and slow-burning small-town corruption, but Lanterns mostly earns its own identity because the Green Lantern mythology actually shapes the investigation instead of just decorating it.
That restraint is mostly a strength, though it occasionally works against the show too. There are stretches where the series feels so committed to being a grounded crime drama that its superhero elements take a back seat for a little too long.
Viewers expecting flashy action and constant spectacle may find themselves waiting patiently for the bigger mythology to fully open up.
Online reactions since the premiere have been largely glowing, with many viewers praising the chemistry between Chandler and Pierre and calling the show one of the best superhero projects in years.
Some have even compared its ambition to Watchmen, while others have pointed to the season’s bigger themes around choice, fear, and duty as genuinely thoughtful additions to the superhero genre.
Related Article: Umthetho Netflix Review
Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner adds a welcome burst of comic-book energy without ever pulling focus from the main story, and the show smartly exists within the larger DC universe without letting those connections overwhelm what is happening on screen.
Lanterns will not work for viewers looking for a traditional, action-packed superhero series. But for anyone willing to sit with a slow-burning detective story that just so happens to star two intergalactic cops with magic rings, this is one of the most confident and interesting superhero shows in years.
Lanterns is now streaming on JioHotstar in India, with new episodes releasing weekly on Mondays.