Lanternshas become the hit TV show of the fall season, which is something few could’ve predicted. Series creators Damon Lindelof (Lost, Watchmen), Chris Mundy (Ozark), and comic book writer Tom King (Batman, Wonder Woman, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow) have successfully grounded the fantastical sci-fi comic lore of Green Lantern in a True Detective-style investigative mystery, set in rural America. That said, the show has been peppering in increasingly spicy bits of Green Lantern lore with every new episode, while also bending that lore in surprising new ways.
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Lanternsalso hasn’t been afraid to challenge some of the core elements of the superhero’s lore. In its own clever way, Lanternshas made one of its best running jokes (and greatest themes) is all about what a Green Lantern truly should be, and even diehard fans haven’t seemed to catch it (yet).
LanternsIs Laughing At the Idea of “Fearlessness”
One of the core elements of Green Lantern’s powers is that his emerald Power Ring is the conduit for a Lantern’s willpower, which is how they are able to create their constructs. In the comics, this power requires the user to “be without fear,” a concept that has resulted in some epic moments for Hal Jordan, John Stewart, and the other human Lanterns we’ve met over the years. But like so many things that happen in comics, the concept doesn’t necessarily play as well when adapted for the screen.
Lanternsmade it clear by Episode 3 that it does not buy into the concept of “fearlessness” as defined by the comic book source material, and has been having a ot of laughs at decades of that comic book lore. One of the best running gags in the show is when any of the three Earthling Green Lanterns, Hal, John, and Guy Gardner (Nathan Filion) get gut-checked about thier fear. It’s not spoken about in some noble reverent way: it’s the most juvenile kind of exchange, akin to schoolyard dares (“You’re scared!” “No I’m not!”).
All three Lanterns have acted out with false machismo or bravado whenever challenged about fear, looking every bit like teenage boys, rather grown men wielding an all-powerful weapon that’s powered by emotional maturity. But to its credit, Lanternsisn’t reveling in the joke too much: the show also has a serious point to make about fear, and the concept of conquering it.
LanternsWants to Build Serious Lore Around The Power
John Stewart’s origin story began by refuting the idea that an Earthling (like John Sr.) can be “fearless.” Episode 3 became was a masterclass of dramatic irony: the audience is horrified by the parental actions of Bernadette Stewart (Jasmine Cephas Jones) and John Sr. (J. Alphonse Nicholson), but the characterrs truly believe in the “noble” act of condintioning their son against fear to make him the ultimate Green Lantern.
However, as the series goes on, it’s clearer and clearer that John’s parents conditioned against feeling more so than fear, and all that repressed emotion has not made him his best self: in the fight for Rushville, or even a decade later, when he returns.
Even Sinestro confesses to Hal that his skill as a Lantern wasn’t based on fearlessness but ambition. Lanternsdoesn’t seem to buy into the idea of “fearless” as a realistic concept, and is challenging its central characters to prove a version of “power” and “heroism” that is actually relatable to real-world people. Space rings and “willpower” just won’t cut it.
Lanternsairs on HBO and streams on HBO Max.
Lanterns and Resident Evil Are Proving the Best Way To Approach Fandom Adaptations, And Fans Need to Respect It
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