The much-awaited DC series Lanterns will reportedly introduce familiar characters Hal Jordan and John Stewart into the DCU with a few twists along the way. In a recent interview, series co-creator Tom King talked about the footage showcased at the 2026 San Diego Comic-Con before confirming that the show will feature at least six crucial twists.
Tom King says DCU’s Lanterns series is full of twists
While speaking with Collider‘s Perri Nemiroff during DC’s Hall H presentation, Tom King noted that fans should expect several twists and turns in the new Green Lantern series.
“Believe it or not, it’s a little more cosmic than I thought it would be,” he said before adding, “It’s a little more Green Lanterns, a little more lore. There’s, like, six different twists that I didn’t think…I thought it would be more of a straight arrow. They just kept adding layers of both emotion and action as we went along, and I think that’s fantastic. They did episode elevation as they went.”
Set in Rushville, Nebraska, the upcoming DCU show will follow the journey of experienced Lantern Hal Jordan as he joins forces with recruit John Stewart to solve a murder case. With Jordan believing that there’s an extraterrestrial threat behind the incident, the duo’s investigation soon uncovers a much darker conspiracy.
The creators of the series have previously compared the DCU series to the HBO series True Detective. At the 2026 Comic-Con, King re-emphasized this comparison and also compared the show to another award-winning cop thriller. “I was just in Hall H watching the scenes, and it looked like the scenes that were exactly in my mind when I first was in a room with James Gunn and Peter Safran. It was like a True Detective [and] Training Day, but with Green Lanterns,” the comic book writer said.
Led by Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierce, Lanterns is on track to premiere on HBO and HBO Max on August 16.
