If I had to sum up the core demographic that HBO’s genre-bending Lanterns appeals to, it’s for the kid in all of us crime-drama-loving millennials who grew up watching Justice League on the Cartoon Network in the early 2000s.
That was my introduction to John Marshall Stewart, one of a handful of fictional earthlings who have donned the ring and guise of the intergalactic superhero Green Lantern over the course of DC Comics’ history.
I know I’m not the only one who considers Stewart the most badass of the bunch. Watching Aaron Pierre’s performance in Lanterns—which marks the first time Stewart’s been adapted for the screen outside of animation—two decades later made me feel confident in renewing that vow, with a shiny green ring, of course.
LANTERNS
What’s it rated? TV-MA
When? 2026
Where’s it showing? HBO Max
Lanterns follows Stewart during a superhero/sidekick internship of sorts with Earth’s outgoing Green Lantern, a former test pilot with a carefree attitude named Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler). Essentially forced into retirement by his superiors, Jordan harbors resentment toward Stewart, a younger, more stoic ex-soldier chosen to replace him. He tries his best to put that aside when the duo becomes entangled in a murder investigation in rural Nebraska. The clues point to a prime suspect with ties to Jordan’s past.
Don’t go into Lanterns expecting a standard superhero team-up akin to most of what Marvel puts out. HBO had fans of grungy yet surreal buddy-cop thrillers like True Detective and The X-Files in mind when it greenlit this DC gem. (one season, eight 48-to-57 min. episodes). ∆
This article appears in Nov 5-12, 2026.
