Lanterns: second trailer, True Detective, but with space cops and mood lighting (HBO TV series).
The second trailer for HBO’s Lanterns has arrived, and yes, before the internet is forced to form another emergency committee, there does appear to be some green in it this time. Not just a hint of green. Not just the sad green of an avocado found behind the cheese. Actual Green Lantern green, glowing away like someone finally remembered the franchise was not called Earth-Toned Detectives.
The new DC series stars Kyle Chandler as veteran Lantern Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre as John Stewart, the fresh recruit who appears to have drawn the short cosmic straw of being trained by a man whose face says “I have seen things beyond human comprehension, and also I really need a coffee.” Together they are investigating a murder in the American heartland, because nothing says intergalactic peacekeeping quite like turning up in Nebraska and making the local sheriff wonder why the UFO lads have brought jurisdictional paperwork.
The first teaser leaned heavily into the show’s grounded, moody, True Detective-with-power-rings atmosphere, which prompted the usual online ritual of fans staring at footage frame by frame and declaring either doom, genius, or insufficient saturation. Trailer 2 seems designed to reassure everyone that the cosmic cupboard has not been locked. There are ring-powered moments, hints of wider mythology, and enough ominous rural strangeness to suggest the cornfields may be keeping secrets from the stars.
Entertainment Weekly has reported that the series plays across two timelines, one in 2016 and another in 2026, with showrunner Chris Mundy saying that two different mysteries will unfold over the course of the season. This is the sort of narrative structure HBO enjoys, preferably served with haunted expressions, dangerous silences, and characters who look as if they have been emotionally audited by the universe.
The cast is also quietly ridiculous in the best possible way. Kelly Macdonald appears as Sheriff Kerry, who is not about to have two glow-jewellery space policemen stomping into her town and rearranging the evidence board. Nathan Fillion returns as Guy Gardner, which means the DC Universe once again has access to a man whose superhero power appears to be weaponised self-confidence and hair that could win a bar fight. Laura Linney also appears in the new trailer, because apparently HBO looked at a Green Lantern murder mystery and decided what it really needed was an additional dose of class.
There is also Sinestro, played by Ulrich Thomsen, lurking in the mythology like a red flag wearing a cape. Anyone with even a passing familiarity with Green Lantern lore knows that Sinestro is not usually invited to parties unless the host has very poor judgement, excellent insurance, or a strong interest in galactic authoritarianism. His presence suggests the show’s “small-town murder” business may eventually open out into something larger, stranger, and rather less manageable than one body and a sheriff’s notebook.
The interesting thing about Lanterns is that DC appears to be trying something more textured than the usual sky-beam thumping contest. This is not being sold as another brightly wrapped superhero punch-up where the fate of the world depends on whether a CGI portal can be closed before lunch. Instead, it looks like a slow-burn detective drama that happens to have space cops, ancient cosmic institutions, emotional baggage, and jewellery capable of building a bazooka out of thought. Here at SFcrowsnest magazine, we are very much in favour of jewellery with unreasonable engineering qualifications.
Of course, the great question is whether audiences will accept Green Lantern as a prestige crime drama rather than a full-on interstellar opera with aliens, planets, monsters and fluorescent fist-hammers every four minutes. The trailer suggests HBO wants both: the grit under the fingernails and the cosmic fireworks kept in reserve until the right dramatic moment. A dangerous plan, but also a potentially delicious one. Too much realism and the Green Lantern Corps becomes two men in jackets looking worried near a pickup truck. Too much spectacle and the mystery gets trampled by a giant green boxing glove.
Still, Chandler and Pierre already look like a promising odd couple: one old soldier of the stars trying not to become a cautionary tale, one new recruit with the burden of replacement hanging around his neck like an invisible millstone. The Green Lantern concept has always been about willpower, but Lanterns seems to be asking what that actually costs when the ring comes off and the job follows you home.
Lanterns is due to premiere on 16 August 2026 on HBO and HBO Max, with eight episodes planned. If the second trailer is any guide, DC’s next great experiment may be a cosmic noir where the case begins in the dirt and ends somewhere far beyond the atmosphere. Bring a torch, a badge, and possibly a very patient therapist.
