A major story point in HBO’s Lanterns that has already sent ripples through the DCU because of its implications is that Kyle Chandler’s version of Hal Jordan has already been the hero and has been wearing the ring for decades when the series begins. It’s proven to be a smart choice, not only because the story itself is focused on him training Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart, but also because of the other narrative opportunities it allows the show to explore thanks to his years of experience with building constructs, solving crimes, and dealing with aliens.
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To that end, and based on what we already knew about Hal in Lanterns, it seemed like the character would end up having a pretty similar origin to the one that was found in the pages of DC Comics for decades. As readers know, and as the TV series already established, the dying Green Lantern Abin Sur crashed on Earth, passing on his ring and the obligation of being a member of the Green Lantern Corps to Hal Jordan as his replacement. This week’s episode of Lanterns adds some more details, though, revealing that the circumstances of Abin Sur’s crash and how he died have gotten a major change for the DCU, and it’s all about the Manhunters. Spoilers will follow.
The DCU Manhunters Are Still Deadly (But Fewer in Number)
At the start of this week’s episode, Hal Jordan’s Green Lantern ring is running out of juice, meaning that he needs to charge it, but his actual lantern is back in his home in California, and Jordan isn’t done investigating Rushville. As a result, he sends John to retrieve it, only for John’s trip to be interrupted by aliens who not only know who he is, but know what the aliens who shot up a football game in Rushville were looking for: a Manhunter.
The person behind John’s kidnapping is revealed to be Antaan (Paul Ben-Victor), who revealed to him the full backstory of the Manhunters, which largely aligns with their comic book history. Though synthetic in their nature, they were created by the Guardians to dispense justice across the galaxy, but their ability to shapeshift made it so they could infiltrate entire societies and planets without being noticed. “Entire species were lost,” according to Antaan, a line of dialogue that will no doubt keep fans thinking he has some kind of connection to the Red Lantern, Atrocitus (based on today’s episode, doesn’t seem like it).
Antaan then confirms that though they believed the Manhunters were gone, the truth is that one was left on his planet; a single Manhunter who infiltrated their society and “engineered a holocaust.” He goes on to detail how the chaos caused by the Manhunter caught the attention of a Green Lantern, who took the Manhunter into custody and guaranteed their execution….only Antaan believes that he didn’t do that, and the Guardians had the Manhunter hidden on Earth.
Hal’s Origin Gets a New Wrinkle in the DCU
The first episode of Lanterns teased how Hal Jordan got the Green Lantern ring from Abin Sur, but this week perhaps revealed the circumstances of why Sur crashed. As John reveals everything he’s learned about this guerilla unit of aliens on Earth and their hatred for Manhunters, Jordan puts the pieces together himself, realizing that Abin Sur’s death was perhaps not an accidental one, surmising it may have been caused at the hands of the Manhunter he took away from Antaan’s planet. Jordan doesn’t divulge much else to John about Manhunters or their place in the plan of the Guardians of the Universe
This marks a pretty stark distinction from the comics, which have had a couple of reasons for Sur’s demise over the course of the character’s history. Initially, Sur was pursued and killed by the supervillain Legion, a character who has a few notches in his belt in terms of killing Green Lanterns before he got his hands on Abin Sur. Another version of DC continuity has Sur die from his own pride, his ring failing after his own willpower is hurt by learning of the “Blackest Night” prophecy.
Suffice to say, Abin Sur’s origin (and thus, Hal’s origin) being rewritten for the DCU to make Manhunters a central part of it certainly works well for the story that Lanterns itself is telling, but will almost certainly have some fans wondering if it means that the Blackest Night event storyline is now off the table for live-action. Granted, we haven’t actually seen Abin Sur’s death, meaning that it could very well be shown eventually in a way that sets up a storyline like that.
We’re two episodes down into Lanterns‘ first season, with only six left.
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