HBO Max’s Lanterns Trailer Actually Creates a Huge Problem for the DCU’s Next Big Entry

6 hours ago 9

Published Mar 14, 2026, 10:00 PM EDT

Jared is a writer, editor, and Communications Studies graduate who loves popular nerd culture (almost anything to do with Marvel, DC, Star Wars, or The Lord of the Rings) and the interactive storytelling medium. Jared's first console was the PS1, wherein he fell for Spider-Man, Spyro the Dragon, and Crash Bandicoot.

The first teaser trailer for HBO and the DCU’s Lanterns is highly curious. It is impossible to say whether it is bearing all and being aboveboard about the show’s tone or content, or telling us virtually nothing while obscuring every little bit of cool Green Lantern Corps lore until it launches in August.

Is There More Than Meets the Eye to Lanterns’ First Trailer?

The optimistic assumption regarding Lanterns’ first teaser trailer is that it is deliberately obfuscating its more sensational or fantastical beats. This would be ideal for a lot of Green Lantern fans who are interested in being taught what the original DCU lore will be as it pertains to Hal Jordan, John Stewart, and other Green Lantern Corps members, especially when Superman did not bother to explore Guy Gardner further than him being a laughingstock.

The Green Lanterns’ Sinestro is allegedly featured as a recurring character, and we have seen that ring-fueled powers are not wholly withdrawn from the show. That said, the teaser trailer will have ended up doing more harm than good if it discourages audiences from watching it because it does not seem to cater toward a sci-fi- or comic-leaning atmosphere, when in reality it might.

Of course, hiding special effects moments and epic battles would make for a nice surprise when their respective episodes are released. But, to market the show as something intimate and more akin to HBO’s True Detective would make the opposite being true all the more jarring—it boils down to how accurate a trailer should be, while still withholding things that could make for a fun reveal.

HBO Has to Know Its Lanterns Trailer is Controversial

John Stewart and Hal Jordan at a bar in HBO's Lanterns

Rather, it could be much worse if audiences went into Lanterns this August with the hope that the trailer chose to keep a lot of elements sacred and secret, only to discover by the finale that it truly had nothing more astonishing to depict. This is much less likely, as a Green Lantern show refusing to lean into cosmic or intergalactic elements would be alarming, and yet Lanterns’ True Detective inspirations could stretch toward how much the show wishes to be ‘grounded’ or ‘realistic,’ despite how backward and nonsensical that might be for a Green Lantern project.

If the trailer turns out to paint a genuine portrait of how the show takes shape, at least HBO and the DCU will be able to say that it did not lie or beat around the bush. Still, the nature of trailers makes one assume that more is left to be discovered when watching the show or movie for the first time.

Unfortunately, we do already know that John will apparently need to earn his ring, which he supposedly hasn’t even worn yet. This, paired with Hal’s markedly disrespectful tone concerning the rest of the Green Lantern Corps, suggests that the Green Lantern’s DCU lore will be a tough pill to swallow. If there is some explanation as to why the series is electing to make such wild choices with the lore, this trailer does not make it clear.

Either way, this is an issue that the Lanterns trailer is accountable for. Only time will tell if this trailer was accurate in its illustration of the series or not, and one corner of its current fanbase is sure to feel burned by it regardless.

Lanterns is currently scheduled to be released on HBO Max in August 2026.