HBO’s Sci-Fi Detective Series With a Near-Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score Is Officially #1 on Streaming
Overview & Key Takeaways
Lanterns is a bona fide hit on HBO Max, giving the DC Universe a much-needed win after Supergirl flopped at the box office.
HBO has a little something for everyone. From grounded dramas like The White Lotus to comedies like The Chair Company, the network has a varied library of shows worth a binge. In 2026, HBO's lineup has been dominated by genre hits, specifically science-fiction and fantasy. Game of Thrones fans were treated to two series this year, the debut of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms in January and the return of House of the Dragon this summer. Both of them were hits with critics and audiences alike, and more of each is coming. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms season 2 is slated to premiere next year, while House of the Dragon's fourth and final season is likely two years away, in keeping with the show's release cadence so far. But, still on the way in 2026 are the second season of Dune: Prophecy and the premiere of HBO's Harry Potter series, which debuts on Christmas, so viewers will have no shortage of new TV to watch.
In between all those releases is Lanterns, the latest DC Universe project that just premiered on Sunday. As of this writing, it has a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes as critics are in agreement that it's one of the best TV shows around. Audiences are enjoying it too, as it has an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes' viewer-voted Popcornmeter. Those viewers have made it the number one show on HBO Max. This has propelled Lanterns to the #1 spot on HBO Max in the U.S. and #3 on the streamer worldwide, according to third-party tracker FlixPatrol.
Ther'es no denying Lanterns is a hit, but should you check it out?
What is Lanterns about?
Lanterns follows Green-Lantern-in-training John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) and his mentor Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler), who's a bit jaded and none-too-pleased about having to show the ropes to his eventual replacement. The pair travel to a small town in Nebraska to investigate a mass shooting, which Jordan is convinced involved aliens. Knowing a thing or two about aliens as a space cop, his hunch is eventually proven right. Throughout the episode, he and Stewart investigate the mysteries of this small town and its people, which likely include even more aliens in disguise.
Polygon's Corey Plante called Lanterns "True Detective with superheroes" in his review. That's a very apt description so far. "In the best possible way, Lanterns also recalls the thematic heft of HBO’s Watchmen, which [Lanterns co-creator Damon] Lindelof developed. Both series use superhero mythology to examine the Black experience in America, especially the inherited trauma and the institutions that decide who gets to wield power," he wrote.
Did that surprising Lanterns twist really just happen?
Image: HBO
[Ed. note: Spoilers for Lanterns season 1, episode 1 follow.]
The premiere episode of Lanterns ends with a shocking twist. The show flashes forward 10 years from 2016 to 2026 and finds Stewart reuniting with sheriff Kerry Kane (Kelly Macdonald). They're back at the football field where the shooting took place in 2016, and find Jordan dead and covered in snow, with his Green Lantern ring missing. Except... is that really Hal Jordan sitting there?
This is a show that went out of its way to establish that aliens can seamlessly blend in with and appear as humans. Who's to say that's not a dead alien who took the form of Hal Jordan? Well, the show's creators, for one. "[Co-creator and writer] Tom [King] and I looked at each other when we were even kicking around the idea of killing Hal, and we were like, 'We can't do that. Everyone's going to hate us. It feels gimmicky.' But [co-creator and showrunner Chris] Mundy actually was like, 'I don't think that it does feel gimmicky. I think that it will actually infuse the entire story with a lot of emotionality,'" co-creator Damon Lindelof told Collider.
So, if you take them at their word (and based on how secretive people are around these comic book shows and movies, maybe we shouldn't), Jordan is dead. Presumably, the rest of the season will follow Jordan and Stewart investigating aliens among Nebraskans in 2016 while Stewart separately investigates Jordan's death in 2026. We know fellow Green Lantern Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) will appear in the 2026 storyline, but how much of a help he is remains to be seen. Both Gardner and Stewart will return in next year's Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow, so expect them to survive Lanterns, unlike Jordan.
