Ben Sherlock is a Tomatometer-approved film and TV critic who runs the massively underrated YouTube channel I Got Touched at the Cinema. Before working at Screen Rant, Ben wrote for Game Rant, Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop. He's also an indie filmmaker, a standup comedian, and an alumnus of the School of Rock.
Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre couldn’t be more perfectly cast in their respective roles, and they have the fizzling on-screen chemistry to make their buddy-cop banter look effortless. Lanterns is Training Day with superheroes; it’s Mare of Easttown with aliens; it’s True Detective by way of Men in Black. It shouldn’t work, but it does. The superpowers and alien visitors should undermine the gritty realism, but they don’t. The gritty realism should ruin the fun of space cops, but it doesn’t. It’s the best of both worlds: it has all the fun and spectacle of a superhero blockbuster, but with the emotional weight and rich themes of a prestige HBO drama.
As soon as that first episode dropped, Lanterns’ first season unfolds, the show is just getting better and better with each new twist and turn. The additional context we’ve gotten from flashbacks and flashforwards has only enriched all that great stuff from the pilot episode. The hints at John’s messed-up childhood, Hal’s obnoxious insistence on calling him “Junior,” the stark contrast between bright-eyed early-career Hal versus jaded present-day Hal — it all felt very poignant and pointed the first time around, but we understand it all so much better three episodes later.
Lanterns Is Officially Past The Halfway Point
Via MovieStillsDBOzark showrunner Chris Mundy brings the gritty, grounded intensity; Woman of Tomorrow’s Tom King, a legend of modern superhero comics, brings the geekdom; and Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof (who previously
- Release Date
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August 16, 2026
- Network
- Showrunner
- Directors
HBO
Chris Mundy
Alik Sakharov, James Hawes, Stephen Williams, Geeta Patel
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Kyle ChandlerHal Jordan
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Aaron PierreJohn Stewart