How ‘Lanterns’ Sets Up—and We’re Not Kidding—‘Superman’

Eric FranciscoMon, September 14, 2026 at 2:00 AM UTC

0

How ‘Lanterns’ Finally Sets Up ‘Superman’HBO

Remember Superman? It was a pretty big deal last summer. You’ll recall that Nathan Fillion starred in it as Guy Gardner, who in DC’s comics was the “backup choice” for Hal Jordan as Earth’s Green Lantern. He is also basically, exactly, how Fillion played him in Superman and in a guest spot on Peacemaker: rude, brash, and unaware of his terrible haircut. You kinda wonder how someone like that gets to be Green Lantern. At least Hal has the right swagger and the look of a silver fox. Guy ... doesn’t.

So when Lanterns came along, there came the question of how Guy would possess the one and only Power Ring that’s been designated to Earth when Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) was training John Stewart (Aaron Pierre). The fifth episode of Lanterns, “Lights Out,” finally shows us how.

Warning: Spoilers for Lanterns episode 5, “Lights Out” ahead.

Shit is getting real in Rushville. We know Zoe (Poorna Jagannathan) is the Manhunter, Antaan (Paul Ben-Victor) is hot on her trail, and all of Rushville is at their mercy. The Lanterns are in practically no shape to stop them either. John begins the episode totally sidelined by Hal, who did it to keep him grounded while he meets Antaan and his men. Hal also keeps up his bad habit of leaving his ring battery depleted, which bites him at the worst possible times.

While Lanterns turns up the fireworks with shootouts, suicide bombings, and explosions—and almost all of Rushville getting blown to bits—the real story happens toward the end. After John kills Zoe (damn!) with a sniper bullet, John takes the ring off a vulnerable Hal Jordan in their motel room. Just as Lianna (Laura Linney) instructed him to. “Was it worth it?” Hal asks John, who stays silent as he walks away with the ring and the battery.

Advertisement

At the bar, John presents Lianna with Zoe’s severed heart and the ring on his finger. But John isn’t celebrating. After all those years, decades of training and putting up with an abusive upbringing where he was groomed—not raised—to be exceptional, John finally has the Green Lantern ring on his finger. And he feels nothing.

As he tells Lianna: “You know, I spent a lot of my life imagining what it would feel like to wear this. Pride, gratitude, power? But then when I put it on, I just felt empty. Hal betrayed everything to keep this ring. His code, the oath, even himself, and it broke him. Probably doesn’t even remember why he wanted the damn thing.”

You can practically hear John talk about himself. After he gives the ring to Lianna and officially rejects the role that he once trained his entire life for, the ring lingers on the table of a nowhere pub without a bearer. But we know who might wear it after him.

Enter: Guy Gardner. You’ll remember that Lanterns takes place (mostly) in 2016, with a time jump to 2026 teased at the start of the show. (Superman is vague about its own timeline, but it basically takes place in its actual contemporary year, 2025.) That’s plenty of time for the Guardians to select a certain “backup” named Guy to wear the ring on Earth. Because if it’s not Hal Jordan, and it’s not John Stewart, then it’s gotta be Guy. Nathan Fillion is also confirmed to show up in Lanterns at some point. There are still three episodes left in the season, which leaves plenty of room for him to take over.

Too bad Kyle Rayner doesn’t exist yet.

You Might Also Like

11 Hard Jigsaw Puzzles for Adults

16 Things Esquire Editors Always Buy on Amazon

100 Photos of Celebrities Partying in the '70s

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”