‘Lanterns’ Season 2 officially in early development as co-creator shares exciting update
The writers’ room for ‘Lanterns’ Season 2 is already at work, though co-creator Damon Lindelof isn’t part of it. Speaking to Collider after the Season 1 finale premiered on October 4, Lindelof noted that writers were already “ideating” on a second season of the HBO series. However, he has no idea where things are going. The series, which stars Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre as John Stewart, is the brainchild of Lindelof alongside Tom King and Chris Mundy (the showrunner).
“In terms of like moving forward into subsequent seasons of the show, I swear to you, as I look at you in the eye on Wednesday this 30th of September, I do not know anything about the creative, and I wouldn't want to hamstring those writers in any way for what future storytelling mechanisms they could indulge in,” Lindelof said. The interview also touched upon the fate of Hal (whose murder kicked off the series, and whose death is seemingly not undone by the finale), as Lindelof was asked to describe how the writers’ room would continue with his story. He replied, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” He then explained that "everybody in the Season 1 room, inclusive of the writers who are working on ideating on Season 2," felt that opening Season 1 with a dead Hal and undoing it via a clone explanation would have been the wrong way to go. Hal became the villain Parallax in the comics in 1994, then went on to host the Spectre, and returned in ‘Green Lantern: Rebirth’ in 2004.
Notably, the writers’ room has been hard at work over the summer, with Mundy telling The Hollywood Reporter in August that he was about six weeks into laying out a season with Christopher Cantwell (the co-creator of ‘Halt and Catch Fire’) since Season 1 was still airing. “We’re just in the breaking-story stages. We’re about six weeks into laying out a season, and then we’ll talk to folks about it really soon,” he said. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly after the finale, Mundy noted that any idea from Season 1 is “fair game to expand on if it goes forward.” He described the plan for a second season that would continue with John Stewart on Earth working grounded cases. In the finale, Stewart ends with an unsanctioned lantern that Sinestro made on an alien planet, and Mundy confirmed that it contains traces of yellow fear power that came from the planet’s contaminated water. Moreover, Sinestro tells Stewart that he can bring Hal back to life, a promise the series ultimately refused to return to, but Mundy says the writers' room wants to revisit that world if possible.
Additionally, Stewart’s story continues beyond the series, as both he and Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion, who plays the character in 2025’s ‘Superman’) are set to appear in the ‘Superman’ sequel ‘Man of Tomorrow.’ Notably, HBO hasn’t officially renewed the series yet. ‘Lanterns’ premiered on August 16, ran on HBO until the October 4 finale, and is currently streaming on HBO Max.
