The Green Lantern Corps may be one of the most popular concepts to come out of the DC Universe, but adapting heroes like Hal Jordan and John Stewart outside of the comics hasn’t been an easy feat. DC fans have only really gotten one live-action Green Lanterns project — and the less that’s said of that, the better. Still, that hasn’t stopped DC from trying again; it’s just taken the studio a long, long time to find a way forward.
After years in purgatory, Lantern fans finally have something concrete to look forward to. A new series is officially on the way; under James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC Universe, the Lantern Corps could finally get the live-action treatment it deserves. With names like Damon Lindelof, Tom King, and Chris Mundy on board behind the scenes, Lanterns certainly seems like it’s in good hands. Casting is also well underway, which means that production could begin sooner rather than later. According to Gunn himself, Lanterns might premiere sooner than anyone might have expected.
Not much time has passed since Gunn first unveiled plans for the first “chapter” of the new DCU, also known as “Gods and Monsters,” but the first stage of the reboot is already well underway. The DCU officially kicks off with the animated Creature Commandos, while the theatrical curtain raiser, Superman, bows in 2025. Per Gunn, a handful of projects won’t be far behind.
“It’s really Creature Commandos, Superman, Peacemaker [Season 2], Lanterns, [and] Supergirl,” Gunn told IGN of the upcoming DC line-up. The filmmaker also revealed that Lanterns will release “around the same time” as Supergirl does, which gives us a better idea of its release window. As Supergirl is slated to hit theaters in Summer 2026, Lanterns could feasibly premiere the same year. The series could be DC’s fall TV offering, just as The Penguin was to the 2024 season.
That may seem like a long time to wait — but with the series “getting ready to go” into production soon, the time may just fly by. It helps that Gunn seems genuinely excited to bring Lanterns into the world: In the same interview with IGN, he didn’t hesitate to praise the show’s creative team.
“Chris [Mundy] and Tom [King] and Damon [Lindelof] wrote an amazing series, like an incredible series,” Gunn continued. “It’s very grounded, very believable, very real — the kind of things that you would never think would be the truth about a Green Lanterns television series — and very human, adult, and wonderful.”
It may not be easy waiting a few more years for Lanterns to really come to fruition, but the fact that Gunn has so much faith in the project may just make it all worth it. With the DCU gaining more traction, an official release date may not be that far away, either.
