First Lanterns Footage Shows Action-Packed Look at Hal Jordan And His Ring

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John Stewart and Hal Jordan walking down the street in civilian cothes from Lanterns-1

Sean O’Connell is a globally recognized film journalist and author who has been covering Hollywood since 1999. His byline has appeared in USA Today, The Washington Post, CinemaBlend, and Fandango, to name a few. He is a longstanding member of the Critics Choice Association, and has served on the organization's Board of Directors since 2018. For years, Sean traveled the world co-hosting the industry-respected film podcast ReelBlend with fellow Critics Choice Association members Jake Hamilton and Kevin McCarthy. The pod became a favorite interview stop for prestigious filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Christopher Nolan, Sir Ridley Scott, Greta Gerwig, The Russo Brothers, Zack Snyder, and Tom Hanks. A rabid comic book geek, Sean has published three nonfiction books that delve deep into the entertainment industry: Release the Snyder Cut, detailing the controversial saga of Zack Snyder’s Justice League; With Great Power, an in-depth retelling of Spider-Man’s history in Hollywood, and; Bruce Willis: Celebrating The Cinematic Legacy Of An Unbreakable Hollywood Icon.

As 2025 draws to a close, DC Studios is using the opportunity to ramp up promotion on its 2026 endeavors. The day after DC dropped the first Supergirl trailer on an eager audience, the studio has now released an action-packed sequence from the highly anticipated Lanterns series. The show is coming to HBO Max in the Summer. Take a look:

The elevator pitch for Lanterns has me sold. What if DC made a season of the hit show True Detective, only it starred Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) of the Green Lantern Corps? I’m so in.

And even though the Green Lanterns are largely a galactic police force, with missions that take them to the farthest reaches of our universes, this show – as conceived by Damon Lidelof, Chris Mundy, and Tom King – will be an Earth-set mystery that takes place in America’s heartland, as is evidenced by the footage shown above.

So, Task, with Green Lantern rings. Again, I’m sold.

DC’s 2026 Slate is Packed

Milly Alcock stars as Supergirl on a poster for the DCU movie

By and large, 2025 was a slower year for the superhero genre. The top two dogs in the space, Marvel and DC, spent the year setting the tables for what’s to come. James Gunn introduced Superman (David Corenswet) in a film that also unveiled The Justice Gang, Lex Luthor, Supergirl and Krypto. And Marvel Studios opened the door to an alternate universe that served as the home to a brand new iteration of The Fantastic Four.

This upcoming year promises to be much larger. While we have the continuing adventures of Supergirl (Milly Alcock) in her summer blockbuster, Marvel will roll out a street-level Spider-Man adventure, and build to the massive team up movie that is Avengers: Doomsday. It’s starting to feel like those Golden Days of comic book cinema are returning, and quickly.

In addition to the aforementioned Supergirl film and Lanterns limited series, DC Films is going to detour into the world of body horror when it releases Clayface into the marketplace. Directed by James Watkins (See No Evil), Clayface will spin an origin story for the classic Batman villain and will be inspired heavily by a popular arc from Batman: The Animated Series.

In a recent exclusive interview with CBR, DC Films CEO Peter Safran confirmed that Clayface is aiming for an R rating, meaning they will not be holding anything back with regards to the disturbing transformations actor Tom Rhys Harries will go through. Clayface opens in theaters in September 2026.

Finally, as all of these films and shows make their way to theaters and our living rooms, we also expect to hear plenty of advancements on two other massive DC projects. James Gunn is shifting gears to dive right into his Superman follow up Man of Tomorrow. And director Matt Reeves is about to launch production on the highly-anticipated The Batman: Part 2, which just added Scarlett Johansson opposite Robert Pattinson’s Dark Knight.

Basically, it’s a great time to be a comic-book fan, as DC and Marvel are setting up their kitchens and getting ready to resume cooking.