HBO is taking the Green Lanterns in a decidedly earthbound direction.
Lanterns, the new DC Studios drama starring Kyle Chandler as veteran Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre as rookie John Stewart, had its worldwide premiere on August 13 at Paramount Studios.
The show debuts on August 16 on HBO, with episodes streaming on HBO Max. The eight-episode series follows these unlikely partners and well, you know, hijinks of the DC comics world ensues.
Kelly MacDonald, Nathan Fillion, Jason Ritter, and more all joined in for the red, er ‘green’ carpet premiere held on the Paramount Studios lot.
Photo: The Knockturnal
Lanterns is a series created by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King, based on the DC Comics Green Lantern characters Hal Jordan (Chandler) and John Stewart (Pierre). It follows two intergalactic cops as they investigate a crime here on earth.
In the series, Jordan and Stewart have a complex relationship, and some of the dynamics of that made it off-screen at the premiere — where Chandler exhibited some of that playfulness on the carpet, stepping on a step stool to be taller than Pierre when they took their photos together.
Of course, part of the magic of a show from the DC Comics world is that there’s already this huge audience who’ve loved these iconic characters for years.
“It was incredible because I didn’t know the series. I don’t know the world. And once it was sort of semi-leaked or announced… tens, maybe hundreds, I don’t know, of these fan art things came on the internet of me with this character,” Paul Ben-Victor said, who plays Antaan on Lanterns.
“It was so exciting to see the world out there that feeds these shows, you know. That was so exciting and it’s you guys out there, the fans that keep this stuff alive. So thank you for your interest. I hope you like what you see and what Antaan has become. He’s not the, what you’ve seen in the past,”
Photo: The Knockturnal
The series’ visual effects team has also been involved from the earliest stages of production.
“Being in visual effects we’re a part of the pre-production of the show. We’re there for the shoot and then we’re there for the long haul, working with Chris, taking his direction,” Lanterns VFX producer Eddie Bonin said.
After the packed screening, held in the theater at Paramount Studios, guests were invited to stay for the after-party where the DJ kept tunes blasting as food and drinks were served. To the side, a billiards table was also set up. And as guests wandered about, you could clearly see that many of them had gotten the memo: Green was yet another big star of the evening.
With the series; grounded setting, cosmic mythology and the unlikely partnership at its center, Lanterns is a different kind of superhero series. Whether Hal Jordan and John Stewart can solve the case, and each other, will unfold when Lanterns premieres this Sunday on HBO and HBO Max.
Check it out.
