7 Biggest Comic Book Changes in HBO's 'Lanterns,' Ranked

2 days ago 21

Published Oct 7, 2026, 7:41 AM EDT

Michael John Petty is a Senior Author for Collider who spends his days writing, in fellowship with his local church, and enjoying each new day with his wonderful wife and precious daughters. At Collider, he writes features, reviews, recaps, interviews, and breaking news on select occasion. In addition to writing about stories, Michael has told a few of his own, from supernatural thrillers to historical fiction. His Western short story, The Devil's Left Hand, received the Spur Award for "Best Western Short Fiction" in 2025 from the Western Writers of America, of which he is a member. Michael currently resides in North Idaho with his growing family.

Spoiler Alert: This list contains spoilers for Lanterns Season 1.Now that Lanterns has wrapped up its first season, longtime comic book fans have been comparing the Green Lantern adaptation to the DC Comics source material. While there are some clear similarities between the way the HBO series deals with Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre), there are also some glaring differences that folks online have taken to heart. However you feel about these adjustments to the source material, here are some of the biggest changes that Lanterns lays out.

From re-writing origin stories to seeing our favorite DC heroes at the very end of their lives, Lanterns boldly (and perhaps unevenly) takes a stab at the Green Lantern mythos by grounding the concept rather than reaching for the stars. While Chandler and Pierre may have been great, that doesn't mean that fans responded well to every change. That said, here is how we would rank some of these major comic-to-screen changes on Lanterns — it may not be an exhaustive list of comic book alterations, but these are some of the biggest that stuck with us.

7 The Death of Hal Jordan

Yes, Hal Jordan has been killed off before in the original DC Comics. After becoming the supervillain Parallax, Hal sacrifices himself in The Final Night crossover event by using his nigh-unlimited power to heroically re-ignite the sun and save all of Earth. This results in his spirit being merged with the Spectre, a spirit of vengeance who wanders about the Earth. Conversely, Lanterns kills Hal off mid-argument with Kerry Kane (Kelly Macdonald), who shoots him in the head the moment he tells her that he loves her. Talk about a cold way to die.

While Lanterns asserts that Hal dies a hero, he really doesn't. He dies a victim of Kerry's impulsive act that is then never even paid for. Rather than sacrificing himself on his own terms to save those he loves, Hal is gunned down unceremoniously and without cause. To add insult to injury, despite his tenure as a villain, Hal was given a true hero's funeral in the comics, while only his lover/murderer and former rival/protégé are in attendance at his burial on Lanterns. But that's what happens when you turn Green Lantern into an HBO show.

6 There Can Only Be One Green Lantern

Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler in Lanterns Episode 2

Admittedly, the idea of only one Green Lantern existing on Earth at a time is not entirely a new concept, but it's certainly an outdated one. When Hal Jordan first arrived on the scene in Showcase #22 back in 1959, he was the only member of the Green Lantern Corps assigned to his particular sector. Now, over time, this eventually changed. Characters like Guy Gardner and John Stewart were eventually introduced as Hal's "backup" in case something happened to him, though they eventually earned their own power rings at his side.

It's not since the 1980s that Earth has had only one Green Lantern at a time, and with Geoff Johns' monumental run on Green Lantern in the early 2000s, the Guardians of Oa officially began assigning two Lanterns to every sector. Now, again, Earth has already had two or more for quite some time — even Kyle Rayner and John Stewart overlapped for a while — but what Lanterns asserts, that only one person can wear the ring at a time, is an outdated concept. More than that, the comics have shown time and again that, with enough willpower, one power ring can even multiply into two.

5 The Limited Use of the Green Lantern Power Ring

On Lanterns, Hal and John use the power ring quite sparingly. It's used to make counterfeit dollars, life-like birds, and protective bubbles or shields — and that's about it. The most imaginative construct that either John or Hal conjure up is that elaborate digging machine early on when investigating William Macon (Garret Dillahunt). Not only does Lanterns fail to capture the true essence of how power rings work and are best utilized by Green Lanterns, but it also depletes their power so arbitrarily that we wonder how Hal ever got anything done.

In the comics, Green Lantern rings need to be charged every 24 hours, especially when utilized constantly in the field. However, on Lanterns, the actual charging time window varies depending on plot conveniences and the ring is shown to die after very brief moments of use. It's a shame too, because it means that we're not able to really see what either Hal or John can actually do with one of the greatest weapons in the DC Universe. Despite being one of the worst comic book movies ever, the 2011 Green Lantern movie actually does this element of the mythos justice.

4 John Stewart's Entire Backstory

One of the most glaring changes made from page-to-screen was John Stewart's origin story. While some like the direction that Lanterns went with John, revealing that his parents trained him from birth to be the next Green Lantern after his father was rejected from the role, others weren't too pleased. While John's origin has shifted in some ways over the years (it's certainly not as fixed as Hal's), he was traditionally raised in social justice movements by his mother, who taught him to care for others above himself. More than that, his initial training with Hal is much friendlier than anything we see on screen here.

Obviously, the version of John's mother — named Bernadette Stewart (Jasmine Cephas Jones) here — doesn't much resemble the woman we meet in the comics. Beyond that, although John has been retconned to be a former U.S. Marine in the comics after the success of the animated Justice League series, even his service history has been altered from the DC material. For instance, his discharge in the comics is honorable since he was willing to challenge corrupt authority, while it's dishonorable due to Hal's interference in his mission.

3 A Lantern That Merges Willpower and Fear

When Thaal Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen), a former Green Lantern and mentor of Hal's, finally meets John, he reveals that he has forged a lantern that is riddled with the yellow energy of fear. In the comics, fear is the antithesis of a Green Lantern's willpower, so much so that for a long time, green power rings wouldn't even work against the color yellow. While that weakness was eventually done away with, the idea that a Green Lantern is meant to overcome fear (rather than embrace it) has been baked into the character's mythos.

Lanterns subverts this idea by giving John a green power battery that still contains some fear energy inside. In fact, when he reworks his own personal Lantern oath, he does so by noting that he plans to embrace his fears. Not only does this run in contrast to traditional Green Lantern lore, but it seems to be a bad precedent to set for a hero whose willpower is the basis for using the ring itself. Even if John becomes one of the greatest Green Lanterns, it will be despite these yellow alterations rather than because of them.

2 Abin Sur Is Killed by a Manhunter

Another major shift made from the usual DC lore is that Manhunters aren't typically infiltrators who can take on human flesh and appearance. In the comics, they were a group of robotic guardians created to keep the peace throughout the universe — only, due to their inability to feel emotion, their "justice" became homicidal. The machines instead committed genocide on different alien worlds, forcing the Guardians of Oa to backtrack on their Manhunter program, replacing it with the Green Lantern Corps.

Aside from the fact that Zoe (Poorna Jagannathan) is nothing like your usual Manhunter, the real change here is that she is the one responsible for Abin Sur's death, Hal Jordan's predecessor. DC has reinterpreted Abin Sur's death a few times over the years, having been killed by Legion, Atrocitus, and even Parallax in the live-action Green Lantern film. So, this change in Lanterns — in which Zoe kills Abin after he first shows her mercy — is one that actually works. It not only reveals something interesting about Abin as a character, but reminds us that the Manhunter cannot erase its programming.

1 Hal Jordan's Downfall

Now, some may hate the changes made to Hal Jordan on Lanterns, especially those concerning his downfall from the Corps. That's fair. On one hand, it's easy to see why many have reacted so poorly to Hal's actions in Rushville. On the other hand, unpacking his backstory to reveal that the Green Lantern has dealt with generational depression (and thus unpacking his personal fears) makes for some interesting character examination. While not perfect, it's a complicated way to go about adapting Hal's fall from grace.

In the comics, Hal becomes Parallax after Coast City — and nearly everyone he loves and cares for — is annihilated by alien tyrants. Angered and frustrated at the Guardians for not letting him rewrite the past, he turns on them, tears down the Corps, and turns to the dark side, as seen in Emerald Twilight. Sure, it's later revealed that Hal was possessed by the fear entity also known as Parallax, but it was a major shock to readers at the time. Lanterns, instead, ties Hal's fall directly to his fears of losing the ring, only to redeem him after years incarcerated as he seeks to make amends with those he hurt. His last adaptation may have been dumb, but Lanterns at least tries to give Hal some psychological depth.