Lanterns just revealed its most dangerous villain, and the creators already have the perfect comparison for him. Showrunner Chris Mundy and executive producer Damon Lindelof explain how they use Sinestro on the HBO series and why they liken him to one of cinema’s most iconic antagonists.
Lanterns showrunner compares Sinestro to Hannibal Lecter
Lanterns showrunner Chris Mundy and executive producer Damon Lindelof compare Sinestro to Hannibal Lecter, Entertainment Weekly reports. Danish actor Ulrich Thomsen portrays the classic DC Comics villain on the HBO series. The character appears in the episode 2 cliffhanger, visiting Hal Jordan’s former mentor in a space prison.
Lindelof directly references the iconic thriller comparison. “As big of a trope as it is to go visit Hannibal Lecter in the prison or Loki, this is tried and true,” he tells EW. He adds that Sinestro helps reveal Hal’s reluctance to pass on his ring. “No one is gonna be able to poke at Hal’s reluctance to cede the ring more than Sinestro will,” Lindelof says.
Mundy also embraces the Lecter parallel, casting Hal in the Clarice Starling role. However, the showrunner explains that the mystery format shaped their restrained approach. “We don’t really have a big bad in the season,” Mundy says. “So in this weird way, it freed us up. We could use him sparingly.”
Kyle Chandler describes filming scenes with Thomsen as a process of discovery. “The more and more that we did it, I found myself feeling more of a respect in that mentor-student thing,” Chandler tells EW. He also calls Sinestro “almost like a father figure sitting in front of me.”
Meanwhile, Lindelof reveals the writers initially debated excluding Sinestro entirely. “You start from, ‘What if Sinestro isn’t in the show at all?’ And you just go, ‘Well, that feels wrong,'” he says. The team ultimately found Sinestro served as “a way of illuminating the conflict” between Hal and John Stewart.
Executive producer Tom King also praises Thomsen’s casting. “It’s hard because Mark Strong did a fantastic job as Sinestro. So it’s a hard bar,” King says. He then references Thomsen’s earlier work on Cinemax’s Banshee. “I was like, ‘Oh my God! It’s Banshee but in space!'” King adds.
