The Green Lantern curse may finally be broken. HBO and DC Studios’ Lanterns has debuted to strong reviews ahead of its Aug. 16 premiere, earning a 91% Rotten Tomatoes score from 32 reviews as of Friday afternoon.
That puts the series light-years ahead of the infamous 2011 Green Lantern movie starring Ryan Reynolds, which sits at just 25% on Rotten Tomatoes. More importantly, critics appear to be responding to exactly what makes this new version different: Lanterns is less cosmic superhero spectacle and more hard-boiled detective story.
Created by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof and Tom King, the eight-episode HBO drama stars Chicago-raised Kyle Chandler as veteran Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre as newly recruited John Stewart. The two intergalactic cops are drawn into a murder investigation in rural Nebraska that gradually reveals something much larger lurking beneath the surface.
If that sounds more like True Detective than Justice League, that is very much the point.
Chandler and Pierre lead the praise
The most consistent praise so far is landing on Chandler and Pierre.
The Hollywood Reporter says the chemistry between the two actors helps the series rise above some of its weaker superhero elements, while other reviews have singled out the buddy-cop tension between Chandler’s cynical veteran and Pierre’s more controlled, introspective newcomer.
That pairing appears to be the show’s real superpower.
Chandler’s Hal Jordan is no polished icon. He is older, sarcastic, bruised and beginning to understand that his time as the guy in the center of the action may be running out.
Pierre’s John Stewart, meanwhile, brings a different energy – physically imposing but emotionally contained, with the series leaning heavily into his military background and personal history rather than treating him simply as “the next Green Lantern.”
The result is closer to an uneasy partnership between two detectives than a conventional mentor-and-sidekick superhero relationship.
‘True Detective’ with power rings
That grounded approach has become the defining talking point around Lanterns.
Reviews repeatedly compare the show to True Detective, with its rural setting, murder mystery and morally complicated protagonists. Others have noted elements of buddy-cop dramas and noir, while still allowing the series to occasionally remind viewers that, yes, these men possess some of the most powerful weapons in the DC Universe.
That balancing act seems to work for many critics.
The Los Angeles Times praised the series for feeling surprisingly original despite working within familiar superhero mythology, while positive reviews have emphasized its writing, pacing and willingness to keep the human stakes front and center.
Even when things do turn green and explode, the spectacle remains largely tied to Earth rather than becoming an endless cosmic effects showcase.
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Not everyone wants their Green Lantern this grounded
The response is not unanimous.
Some critics argue that Lanterns goes too far in stripping away the cosmic scale that makes Green Lantern distinctive in the first place.
The San Francisco Chronicle criticized the series for treating its own fantastical mythology with too much restraint, arguing that the gritty approach ultimately limits what should be one of DC’s most imaginative properties.
That appears to be the central divide.
For viewers looking for sprawling intergalactic warfare, alien civilizations and an unapologetically comic-book Green Lantern Corps, Lanterns may feel surprisingly earthbound.
For audiences exhausted by giant CGI finales, however, a murder mystery driven by two strong actors may be exactly the reinvention the property needed.
A promising win for DC Studios
The early score also gives James Gunn and Peter Safran another encouraging television entry for the developing DC Universe.
Lanterns follows Peacemaker and The Penguin in demonstrating that DC’s television projects do not necessarily have to share the same tone or even resemble traditional superhero television.
In this case, the strategy appears to be: take Green Lantern, run it through HBO’s prestige-crime filter and trust Chandler and Pierre to carry the human story.
So far, critics seem willing to follow them.
The 91% score will almost certainly fluctuate as additional reviews arrive — and many critics have only seen the opening episode or a limited selection of installments — so it is far too early to declare the final critical verdict.
But after years in which the words “live-action Green Lantern” carried a certain amount of baggage, a Certified Fresh debut is a pretty good place to start.
Lanterns premieres Sunday, Aug. 16 on HBO and HBO Max.
