Now we know what we can expect from HBO's Lanterns series, thanks to the recent update by director James Hawes, who is directing two episodes. Hawes, who is known for his work on One Life, the World War II drama starring Anthony Hopkins, and Apple TV+'s Slow Horses, was interviewed by The Standard. The director had just gotten off a flight from LA after wrapping his episodes of the series.
Praising showrunner Chris Mundy's writing, Hawes said this to The Standard:
“Well it's Chris Mundy's pen that you've really got to be impressed by, the man who brought you Ozarks and True Detective. It's very rooted in a way that I like to think we achieved with Slow Horses. Amazing chemistry between Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler, and Kelly Macdonald in the mix, and then with a sprinkle of DC magic that bursts through every now and then. So it's unexpected.”
Hawes's comment assures fans that we are going to get a very different live-action adaptation of the Green Lantern than the first one from 2011, which is regarded as one of the most infamous DC movies and launched a dozen jokes across its star Ryan Reynolds' two Deadpool movies.
What do Lanterns director James Hawes' comments mean?
These comments seem to echo James Gunn's sentiments that Lanterns will be more grounded than the comics or the 2011 movie starring Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively. The show, set in a small American town, will follow John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) and Lantern legend Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) investigating a murder. However, considering they are a part of the Green Lantern Corps, the victim might have died under mysterious circumstances.
This is not the first time Hawes has been appreciative of the upcoming HBO series. On March 28, 2025, Hawes sat down for an interview with Collider, in which the director, appreciating the script of the series, said:
"Listen, it all starts from the script. When you turn those pages, can you get the smell of it? You always find a scene or two that you think, 'I can't wait to be stood beside the camera and the cast, directing this scene on the day.' If that happens on turning the pages, you know this is something you have to take seriously, and that absolutely happened with Lanterns. To some extent, it's a swerve. Superheroes are not somewhere I've really played before, but it's created in such a way—and I can't tell you much—that it bewitched me."
Later in the same interview, Hawes also described the Lanterns Co-leads Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre as:
"I'm going to use slightly strange words, but the first word that came to mind was 'authenticity.' The next word is 'charm.' These are two people you just want to hang out with. There's just no doubt. You want to hang with them. You want to go on that journey. Add to that Kelly Macdonald, who I've worked with before on Black Mirror. You get people who are just so classy and so busy inhabiting their roles, so you never doubt it. They're not on the outside—they’re deep in those skins."
All of these comments point to a prestige drama set inside the confines of Peter Safran and James Gunn's DCU.
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HBO's Lanterns is currently under filming and is expected to be released sometime in early 2026.
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