I watched HBO Max’s and DC’s Lantern TV show episode 1 on its release on August 16, 2026, and even before I fully get into the review of the episode, I have to say this might be the best pilot episode for any comic book-related television product of all-time. The first episode alone had so many glows and positives to talk about. It’s somewhat worrisome because that first episode alone is going to be very difficult for the rest of the series to keep up with or even be better than.
The theme of Lanterns is an absolutely accepted twist and change from expectations. Instead of being an automatic sci-fi adventure with super bright colors and being mystical, like we saw with Superman(2025), Lanterns instead are dark and gritty. It’s a true detective show rather than being full-fledged about bright green space cops.
Backing the clear dark tone are several possibly triggering topics such as child abuse, mass shootings, suicide bombings, and more, which is definitely not something that is for many people, but for the people who don’t mind it serves a strong push for the tone and mood the showrunners are aiming for.
The biggest highlight is definitely the chemistry between Hal Jordan(played by Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart (played by Aaron Pierre) throughout the entire episode. The duo between the two actors and characters is phenomenal; from the dialogue and ragebaiting to how accurately someways they bring these characters to the big screen.
Although a spoiler-free review, easily the biggest star of episode one is Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan. He is the perfect blend of not just cocky and confident, but he also has this patient and grizzled veteran demeanor that mixes and contrasts nicely with Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart, whose character in 99 percent of the episode is the mentee to Kyle Chandler.
Again, spoiler-free, but the ending cliffhanger that episode one has is phenomenal and is filled with nothing but bigger questions and excitement for the clear dark style this show is going towards.
So with such a strong start, what does this mean for the DCU? Recently, James Gunn, DC, and Warner Bros. have been under a lot of fire because of the hyperfocus on non-DC trilogy forefront heroes such as Wonder Woman, Batman, and The Flash, but instead side characters like Jimmy Olsen and Peacemaker.
And I honestly believe that with the direction Lanterns episode one is leading, it could play a major part in setting up and giving the DCU a clear direction in writing and ideas, but then again that could be a lot of hope and recency bias from the show. All in all, Lanterns episode one served as a great piece of media and hopefully is enough to give the DCU a viewable direction for fans and the audience.
