Summary:
- DCU Lanterns series will release sometime in early 2026.
- However, details related to this project are quite scarce. We just have a synopsis and a cast photo to go by.
- But we went down the rabbit hole to see what Lanterns might mean for the future of DCU.
2026 will be a big year for James Gunn’s DCU. With Supergirl and Clayface hitting theaters and Man of Tomorrow beginning production, the DCU finally seems to be finding its rhythm. In between these big-screen releases, Lanterns is also set to premiere in early 2026.
The show will focus on Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre in the lead as Hal Jordan and John Stewart, as the two uncover a dark mystery. Lanterns was described as a grounded show. However, Gunn’s latest comments suggest that something much bigger may be in store.
Lanterns Is “Really Important” For the Future of the DCU
Peacemaker Season 2 set up Salvation as an important plot point for the future of the DCU and Man of Tomorrow may be the project that expands on this idea. When asked by YouTuber BobaTalks how Lanterns is “important in setting things up” in the DCU, here’s what the DCU head had to say:
Well I think it’s everything I think.. [Green Lanterns] are important characters and so that by itself is important. Without anything else, it’s just like how Peacemaker is an important character. And uh so there’s that but there’s also other things that kind of go far into the future in terms of what happens in that show
Who Will Be the Villain of Lanterns
Sinestro, Atrocitus and Black Hand will be the villains of DCU’s Lanterns Series. But there is a catch. Ulrich Thomsen will play Sinestro. Garret Dillahunt, on the other hand, will play the character of William Macon, who Deadline describes as a modern cowboy.
However, interestingly, Dillahunt recently shared an Instagram story featuring all the villains alongside photos of their respective actors, with his own picture placed beneath Black Hand. He added a thinking emoji to the post. This basically confirms that he’s playing Black Hand in the DCU, especially considering that Black Hand’s real name in the comics is William Hand.
Finally, according to Deadline, Paul Ben-Victor, who you may know from Entourage, The Wire, or The Irishman, has been cast as. The description for the character sounds an awful lot like Atrocitus, the founder of the Red Lantern Corps but nothing is confirmed.
How Lanterns Might Set Up The Blackest Night Storyline
Blackest Night is a crossover event in DC Comics that focuses on the rise of the Black Lantern Corps. The Black Lanterns are led by Black Hand, who is under the control of Nekron. Nekron is a cosmic entity that embodies death itself. The Black Lantern Corps aims to extinguish all life and emotion in the universe.
To fight this cosmic threat, all seven Lantern Corps unite to fight the ultimate evil. It’s impossible for DCU’s Lanterns show to finish the storyline in eight episodes. However, Lanterns could set things up for the event to take place in some future DCU project.
Since the show already involves Hal Jordan and John Stewart investigating a “death,” the theme of death is clearly in place. With Black Hand also confirmed to appear, it’s likely that instead of adapting Salvation Run, the series could be setting up a version of the Blackest Night storyline, or maybe a combination of both?
