Production notes

Greg Berlanti, the producer of multiple DC Comics–based television series, announced that he was developing a series based on the Green Lantern characters for the streaming service HBO Max in October 2019. Berlanti had previously co-written the film Green Lantern (2011). In January 2020, he said the series would span several decades and tell two stories about Green Lanterns on Earth, as well as a story about the villainous character Sinestro in space. The series was officially picked up for a 10-episode season by HBO Max that October. Marc Guggenheim, who also co-wrote the Green Lantern film, and Seth Grahame-Smith were revealed to be writing the series, with Grahame-Smith serving as showrunner. The series could not make use of the main Green Lanterns from the comic books, Hal Jordan and John Stewart, because they were being reserved for DC Extended Universe (DCEU) films. Instead, the series was set to explore other Green Lanterns from the comics, including Guy Gardner, Jessica Cruz, Simon Baz, Alan Scott, Kilowog, and new Green Lanterns created for the series. In April 2021, the series was revealed to primarily focus on Scott, a secretly gay FBI agent in 1941 who becomes Earth's first Green Lantern, and Gardner, an "embodiment of 1980s hyper-patriotism", alongside the half-alien Bree Jarta in 1984. Finn Wittrock was cast as Gardner after Berlanti received permission from producer Ryan Murphy for the actor to prioritize Green Lantern over the planned second season of Murphy's Netflix series Ratched (2020). An actor was in negotiations to portray Scott. The series was said to be the most expensive in Berlanti's career and was expected to begin filming later in 2021. Berlanti had been writing with Grahame-Smith and Guggenheim, who were all serving as executive producers alongside Geoff Johns, Sarah Schechter, David Madden, and David Katzenberg. Pornsak Pichetshote, who previously served as an editor for DC's Vertigo Comics imprint and was an executive at DC Entertainment overseeing its television content, was later revealed to be part of the writers' room as well. Jeremy Irvine was revealed to be in talks to portray Scott in May, and was officially cast soon after. Lee Toland Krieger was hired to direct the first two episodes at the end of the month. In August 2021, Wittrock said filming would begin at the end of the year or in early 2022. In April 2022, Discovery, Inc. and Warner Bros.' parent company WarnerMedia merged to become Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), led by president and CEO David Zaslav. The new company was expected to restructure DC Entertainment while Zaslav began searching for an equivalent to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to lead the new subsidiary. In June, Irvine said there was no scheduled start date for filming the series and the production was working on "getting all the stars to align". A month later, the series was reaffirmed to be in development despite the cancellation of other HBO Max and DC projects by WBD. In October 2022, Grahame-Smith was revealed to have left the series, which was being redeveloped to focus on Stewart. James Gunn and Peter Safran were announced as the co-chairs and co-CEOs of the newly formed DC Studios at the end of that month. A week after starting their new roles, the pair had begun developing an eight-to-ten-year plan for a new DC Universe (DCU) that would be a "soft reboot" of the DCEU.

Gunn said in December 2022 that Green Lantern characters would be an important part of the new DCU. On January 31, 2023, he and Safran unveiled the first projects from their DCU slate, which begins with Chapter One: Gods and Monsters. The third television series in the slate was Lanterns, a new iteration of the long-in-development Green Lantern series. This version features the two best-known Green Lanterns, Hal Jordan and John Stewart, and Safran said it would be an Earth-based detective story rather than the space opera that Berlanti had envisioned. He said the series would be an "HBO-quality event" in the style of crime drama series True Detective (2014–present), and spy thriller series Slow Horses (2022–present). In January 2023, Safran said the mystery that Jordan and Stewart investigate leads into the main storyline for the DCU, so the series was an important project for Gunn and Safran. Damon Lindelof was consulting on the series as a producer by January 2024, when it was said to be a priority project for HBO Max (at that time briefly renamed to simply "Max"). The following month, Chris Mundy was reported to be serving as showrunner while Tom King, a member of the DC Studios writers' room, was also attached as a producer. Gunn confirmed the involvement of Mundy, King, and Lindelof in May 2024. King had originally pitched the concept for the series, and Mundy was hired by Gunn and Safran based on his work on the crime drama Ozark (2017–2022) as well as the fourth season of True Detective (2024). Mundy and King began developing the series together and enlisted Lindelof, who created the DC Comics–based limited series Watchmen (2019). Lindelof agreed to join because of his love for Ozark and King's comic books. Mundy, Lindelof, and King are credited as the series' creators. The series received an eight-episode straight-to-series order from Max's corporate sibling channel HBO in June 2024, when Mundy was confirmed as showrunner and executive producer. The move to HBO was made after WBD decided to shift many of its planned big-budget Max series based on their own intellectual property to be HBO originals instead; Lanterns was expected to still stream on Max in addition to airing on HBO. Each episode was expected to have an approximately hour-long runtime. DC Studios was meeting with possible directors for the series' pilot by September, including Stephen Williams, who worked with Lindelof on Watchmen. James Hawes, who directed the first season of Slow Horses, was hired to direct the first two episodes of Lanterns and serve as an executive producer the next month. In February 2025, Williams was confirmed to be directing for the series, alongside Geeta Vasant Patel and Alik Sakharov, while Ron Schmidt joined as an executive producer the following month. Also in February 2025, Safran stated that the series could continue beyond its first season. Mundy added that Lanterns would stand alone from other DC Studios projects and was designed to tell a complete story, but he hoped that it could expand to have multiple seasons. Lanterns was expected to be a multi-season series by May 2026, when television and comic book writer Christopher Cantwell was hired to work on a potential second season as a writer, executive producer, and co-showrunner alongside Mundy. Lindelof and King did not return as writers because of their commitments to the HBO series The Chain and the DCU animated series Mister Miracle, respectively, though King remained involved in some capacity. A writers' room had been working on the season for more than a month, around six weeks, by that August, but HBO was waiting to greenlight a second season until after the series premiered later that month to gauge its critical and audience reception and viewership ratings. On the potential demand for a second season, Mundy stated, "We feel good that we told the story in season one well. The question is whether [season two] is a story people are interested in. If that's the case, then we'll get to do another one. We'll tell it in a slightly different way, so that it feels fresh, with characters you know and care about." He added that they were "just in the breaking-story stages" and that they would discuss it with HBO and DC Studios executives "really soon" once they had mapped out a whole season.

Mundy, King, and Lindelof had written the pilot script and series bible for Lanterns by the end of May 2024, when they were assembling a full writers' room. Justin Britt-Gibson, Breannah Gibson, and Vanessa Baden Kelly are also writers on the series. They were present on set to answer questions regarding comic book history and instructed the actors to have a holistic understanding of Jordan and Stewart's characters rather than reading comics from a specific time period. King also took inspiration from his experience as a CIA counterterrorism officer. Britt-Gibson previously worked with Lindelof on the script for an untitled Star Wars film. Writing for the series was completed by the start of filming in February 2025. Lanterns unfolds across two storylines: the first, set in 2016, involves a murder in Rushville, Nebraska, which Jordan believes to be an extraterrestrial incident; and the second, involving Jordan's own murder, takes place in 2026. Mundy likened the story's structure to the "emotional mysteries" in the first season of True Detective (2014), which he described as less of a traditional whodunit and more of an exploration of why the mystery takes place, bound by the relationship between Jordan and Stewart in Lanterns that Mundy compared to the characters Rust Cohle and Marty Hart from True Detective. The series primarily occurs in Sheridan County, Nebraska, with some scenes taking place in Iowa. It does not adapt any specific storylines from the comics, though Mundy said it is "steeped" in the Green Lantern comic book lore, as the main characters possess power rings, the primary weapons of the Green Lantern Corps and the source of their powers, while other aspects of the lore are either seen or referenced in the series. However, the series is more grounded than the comics. Mundy said he was excited to create "something really grounded inside this big, amazing mythology. From the beginning, all we talked about was, how can we take all the things we loved about the source material and turn it into a layered, human HBO drama?" He wanted the series to be accessible to audiences unfamiliar with the comics' history, yet satisfying to those who were. Mundy emphasized the series spanning across various timeframes and the presence of the buddy cop elements, noting that Jordan and Stewart would act as "opposing forces" in season one. Lindelof, Mundy and King decided early in development to kill Hal as a plot twist to provide greater emotional stakes and deepen his relationship with John. They initially considered Sheriff Kerry Kane as the victim but rejected the idea to avoid using the "fridging" trope. Hal's hologram references Hal's multiple deaths in the source material. The creators also changed Hal's origin story, revealing through the Halogram that his father, Martin, died by suicide rather than in an accident. This change allowed them to explore Hal's fear while creating their own interpretation of his origins. Gunn was excited for the series to have a different tone from the first DCU film Superman (2025), despite that project also featuring a Green Lantern in Guy Gardner, whom Mundy described as "fabulously obnoxious" and said would appear at "a few different times" in the series; the events of Superman occur between the two time periods of the series. Gardner appears as part of the 2026 storyline, with references to the events of Superman. Mundy explained the creative team had full creative freedom over the story and were not required to make it adhere to any other DCU projects. He further elaborated that the story did not have any required "specific landing point," feeling particularly satisfied with Stewart's characterization. Gunn also teased that Lanterns would be "really important in setting up things" in the wider context of the DCU.

In December 2022, Gunn stated actor Ryan Reynolds would not reprise his role as Hal Jordan from the Green Lantern film. Nathan Fillion was cast as Guy Gardner for Superman in July 2023, and he was expected to co-star in the series by September 2024. At that time, Josh Brolin was revealed to have been offered the role of Jordan at the end of August. The actor was looking for a new television role following the cancellation of his series Outer Range (2022–2024) and had previously played the DC Comics character Jonah Hex in the 2010 film of the same name. Jordan was expected to be the gruff, older partner similar to Danny Glover's Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon films. DC Studios was looking to cast a younger, "fresh-faced" Black actor as John Stewart, who was expected to be in his 20s. Matthew McConaughey and Ewan McGregor were also in consideration for Jordan if a deal with Brolin could not be finalized. Brolin passed on the role soon after his potential involvement was reported, saying it "didn't work out", and McConaughey was also not expected to be cast. Kyle Chandler was in negotiations to portray Jordan by the end of September, while Aaron Pierre and Stephan James were in the mix to portray Stewart. Gunn had almost cast Pierre as Adam Warlock in his Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), and the actor previously portrayed Dev-Em in the DC Comics–based series Krypton (2018–2019). Damson Idris was also on the shortlist to portray Stewart before a scheduling conflict arose. Screen tests for Pierre and James were held in early October with Chandler. On October 9, Pierre was cast as Stewart and Chandler was confirmed to be cast as Jordan. Kelly Macdonald was cast in the main role of Sheriff Kerry at the end of the month. Garret Dillahunt and Poorna Jagannathan were cast in the major recurring roles of William Macon and Zoe, respectively, in November, and Ulrich Thomsen was cast in January 2025 to recur in the series as Thaal Sinestro. In March, Nicole Ari Parker, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Sherman Augustus, J. Alphonse Nicholson, and Jason Ritter were respectively cast in the recurring roles of Stewart's mother Bernadette, a younger version of Bernadette, Stewart's father John Sr., a younger version of John Sr., and Billy Macon, while Fillion was confirmed to be appearing. In April 2025, Chris Coy and Paul Ben-Victor were cast to guest star as "Waylon Sanders" and recur as Antaan, respectively; Ben-Victor previously voiced Bulldozer of the Easy Company in the first DCU animated series Creature Commandos (2024–present). In late May, Laura Linney was reported to be part of the cast. In August, Cary Christopher was revealed to have a guest-starring role as young Noah, while Brolin claimed in an interview that Paula Patton had a role in the series. Linney's casting was confirmed in May 2026, and in July, she was revealed to be portraying a member of the Guardians of the Universe named Lianna.

Cynthia Summers and John Paino were, respectively, the costume and production designers. The production team created 20 designs for the Lantern before finalizing it. Jordan and Stewart both wear civilian clothing throughout the series, with Jordan's dusty leather jacket and salt-and-pepper hair resembling his appearance in the 1990s Green Lantern comics drawn by Pat Broderick that featured an older Jordan with white streaks of hair. Jordan's Green Lantern suit in the series is a muted, faded green jacket, contrasting the more colorful and poppy green-and-black suits that the characters are typically depicted wearing. The suit's design is reminiscent of the ones in Gabriel Hardman and Corinna Bechko's Green Lantern: Earth One (2018–2020) graphic novels, which also feature a more grounded approach. Summers stated they did not want Jordan's suit to resemble a futuristic sci-fi aesthetic.

Principal photography began during the week of February 17, 2025, in Los Angeles, California, as well as at Warner Bros. Studios Burbank in Burbank, California, under the working title Latitude. Armando Salas and Florian Hoffmeister served as cinematographers. The Stewart family home was created on Stage 19 of the Burbank lot. Filming was previously expected to occur in Atlanta, Georgia, from January to June. Gunn and Safran worked with WBD to get the tax credits and studio deals necessary to move the production from Atlanta, where Gunn filmed Superman, to Los Angeles. Safran said they were thrilled to be filming in the city and supporting locals following the January 2025 Southern California wildfires. Scenes set in Rushville, Nebraska were filmed in Piru, California, with its main street location doubling for downtown Rushville. A diner was also built in the town while the wardrobe department was located in the town's Corazon de Piru business. Hawes said comparisons to True Detective were valid due to Mundy's writing and the buddy cop structure, but Lanterns had more humor than that series. He compared it to films with "Americana heart" such as Fargo (1996) and No Country for Old Men (2007). Mundy said Hawes's direction for the first two episodes captured the scope he was hoping for. Williams, Patel, and Sakharov directed additional episodes for the series. Four episodes had been filmed by early May, when Hawes wrapped filming his episodes. At that time, filming was about to begin on the third and fourth episodes. Ritter said that the story was "jumping all around". Filming was more than halfway finished by mid-June, and Thomsen said filming for his scenes concluded by the end of July. Pierre confirmed that production had wrapped by at least that October. He also said that the filmmakers extensively discussed the characters' flaws on set, and noted that the characters "do their best to redeem themselves actively".

Emily E. Greene was an editor on the series.

Stephanie Economou was revealed to be composing the score for the series in May 2026.

The premiere attracted 9.3 million viewers worldwide during its first three days on HBO and HBO Max, including 6.6 million in the United States. Its U.S. premiere audience surpassed those of several recent HBO series, such as It: Welcome to Derry (2025–present) and The Penguin (2024), and became the biggest premiere for a DC Studios series on HBO Max. The third episode reached a series high of 10 million viewers worldwide and 7 million in the U.S. during its first three days. The series continued to grow week-to-week, with its pilot episode surpassing 20 million viewers worldwide. It also ranked among the five biggest series launches in HBO Max history. The penultimate episode was watched by 7 million viewers in the United States during its first three days, combining Nielsen's linear television measurements with HBO Max streams. The figure made it the series' most-watched episode in the U.S. at the time, while the series averaged more than 12 million U.S. viewers and nearly 19 million worldwide per episode. The season finale drew 10.5 million global viewers in its first three days, a 13% increase over the series premiere. The series averaged 19.3 million global viewers across the season, while its premiere was approaching over 30 million.

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 91% of 159 critics gave the season a positive review, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's critics' consensus reads, "Lanterns lights the way to a controlled and fantastical escape, in which Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre bring audiences into their world of wonder through fearless performances, grounded writing, and charismatic chemistry." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 72 out of 100 based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter praised the series for its "prickly chemistry" between Pierre and Chandler and its strong supporting cast, while noting that its comic-book elements can feel underwhelming and that some episodes are duller and less thematically developed. Alison Herman of Variety praised the character study of Jordan and Stewart and the exploration of John's experiences as a Black superhero, while criticizing the series for relying heavily on influences from other prestige dramas and for struggling to reconcile its grounded approach with its superhero elements. William Bibbiani of TheWrap highlighted the series' increasingly complex characters, relationships, and comic-book references, particularly Stewart's backstory and the "prickliest of interactions" between him and Jordan, as well as the action sequences, but criticized the series for featuring "too much talking, scene repetition and narrative padding". Jesen Schedeen of IGN described the first episode as a successful blend of superhero drama and grounded murder mystery, highlighting the chemistry between Chandler and Pierre, but noted its limited focus on the cosmic side of the Green Lantern mythos. Ben Travers of IndieWire gave the series an A-, praising its blend of superhero science fiction and police mystery, its exploration of racial discrimination, and the performances of the two leads. Amon Warmann of Empire gave the series 4 out of 5 stars, praising its grounded mystery, the strong performances, and the "entertainingly easy friend-foe chemistry" between Chandler and Pierre, as well as its exploration of racial themes, while noting its slow pacing and limited traditional superhero elements.