James Gunn's DCU Just Wasted Another Major Villain

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Hal recharging his Power Ring in Lanterns

Published Sep 16, 2026, 9:01 AM EDT

Since 2019, Kevin Erdmann has been one of Screen Rant's Senior Staff Writers, covering all kinds of Superhero and Star Wars media with Easter egg breakdowns, theory pieces, breaking news, and more. A huge Star Wars & MCU fan, Kevin also loves Batman (because he's Batman), but could talk for hours about why Nightwing is DC's greatest hero.

With 8 years of total experience covering entertainment and pop culture, Kevin has gotten the chance to interview top creatives and talent, and has also attended major media events like Disney's D23 convention.

Majoring in Cinema Studies with a minor in Comics and Cartoon Studies from the UofO, Kevin lives in Oregon with his wonderful wife, adorable dog, and sinister cat who is no doubt currently plotting his demise.

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Lanterns episode 5

Although HBO's new Lanterns series has established itself as one of the best projects yet in James Gunn's new DC Universe, it also seems to be wasting the potential of several DC villains from the comics. This feels especially true after the release of Lanterns episode 5.

Thus far, Lanterns has featured Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre's John Stewart investigating a series of alien murders in 2016 committed Manhunter in Nebraska who's been hiding on Earth for years, ten years before Hal Jordan himself is discovered dead in the same small Nebraskan town in 2026. Additionally, the entire investigation is happening amid major tensions due to the Guardians wanting John to replace Hal as a new Green Lantern, an alien hit squad seeking vengeance on the Manhunter, and the Manhunter herself having the support of the entire town...and all of it comes to a head in Lanterns episode 5.

Keeping all that in mind, one of the most intriguing characters in the new DCU series is Paul Ben-Victor's Antaan, the alien leader of the hit squad seeking to kill the Manhunter for nearly annihilating their people. While there were some exciting theories about Antaan prior to the ending of Lanterns episode 5, his ultimate fate now makes the character feel like a major waste.

Lanterns Episode 5 Just Killed Antaan (Debunking Those Atrocitus Theories)

Antaan Faces Will Macon in Lanterns Episode 5

By all accounts, Antaan's revealed origins shared some major similarities to Atrocitus, founder of the Red Lanterns who wield the Emotional Spectrum's red light of rage in the comics. Both survived the near-genocide of their people at the hands of rogue Manhunters, and both harbor distrust and hatred toward the Green Lanterns the Guardians of the Universe (who created the Manhunters). Both seeking vengeance, it's not hard to see how Antaan could have been revealed as the DCU's Atrocitus, with this first season potentially even setting him up to create the Red Lanterns down the line.

However, the Antaan/Atrocitus theories have seemingly been debunked following Lanterns episode 5. During the chaos in Rushville, Nebraska once Poorna Jagannathan's Zoe Macon is fully revealed to be the Manhunter, Antaan attempts to detonate the internal bomb within his body to take her down, only for Hal Jordan to create a construct of a green tornado which sends Antaan into the air to explode without harming anyone else (thereby ending his life in 2016).

Sector 2814 · Ring Active How Well Do You Know Lanterns? “In brightest day, in blackest night...”

💍The RingPowered by will

🔦The Corps3,600 sectors

🌌OaThe Guardians

👮Earth BeatSector 2814

⚠Yellow
PerilThe fear entity

ACTIVATE RING →

Lanterns is one of the tentpole TV series launching James Gunn and Peter Safran’s rebooted DC Universe. On which streaming platform does it air?

ANetflix BHBO Max CDisney+ DApple TV+

✓ Correct! HBO Max — Warner Bros. Discovery’s flagship streamer and the natural home for DCU prestige TV alongside Peacemaker and The Penguin. Lanterns is positioned as the DCU’s high-end serialised drama counterpart to Gunn’s theatrical Superman relaunch, sharing canon with the films. Disney+ runs Marvel; Netflix and Apple are rival streamers.

✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is HBO Max. Netflix has had various superhero shows but not DCU. Disney+ is Marvel’s home. Apple TV+ doesn’t house DC. HBO Max is Warner Bros. Discovery’s streamer and the TV home of the Gunn/Safran DCU — Lanterns joins Peacemaker and upcoming DCU series there.

Unlike most Green Lantern adaptations, Lanterns pairs two Earth-based ring-bearers in a buddy-cop framework — a weathered veteran and a newer recruit partnered together on Sector 2814 duty. Which two Lanterns lead the show?

AHal Jordan & Guy Gardner BHal Jordan & John Stewart CJohn Stewart & Kyle Rayner DHal Jordan & Kyle Rayner

✓ Correct! Hal Jordan and John Stewart — two of the most beloved Earth-assigned Lanterns — are paired as the show’s central duo. Hal is the hot-shot test-pilot veteran, John the disciplined ex-Marine architect with a sharper sense of justice. The pairing draws heavily from the Geoff Johns comics era and lets the show explore two very different philosophies of what a Green Lantern should be.

✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is Hal Jordan and John Stewart. Guy Gardner (played by Nathan Fillion) is a separate DCU character who appears in the 2025 Superman film. Kyle Rayner is a beloved Lantern but not part of this show. The Lanterns duo is the Hal/John pairing — a pointedly contrasting veteran and recruit on Sector 2814 duty together.

The role of Hal Jordan — the weathered, test-pilot-turned-space-cop original Earth Lantern — went to a veteran actor best known as Coach Eric Taylor on Friday Night Lights and for leading Bloodline. Who plays Hal?

ARyan Reynolds (reprising) BKyle Chandler CNathan Fillion DChris Pine

✓ Correct! Kyle Chandler — Emmy winner for Friday Night Lights, star of Bloodline, and part of the Monsterverse (Godzilla: King of the Monsters) — plays an older, weathered Hal Jordan. James Gunn wanted a seasoned, grounded presence rather than a rookie. Ryan Reynolds played Hal in 2011’s widely-mocked Green Lantern film (a different continuity); Nathan Fillion plays Guy Gardner in the 2025 Superman film.

✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is Kyle Chandler. Ryan Reynolds’ Hal was the 2011 film (a separate, mostly-disowned continuity). Nathan Fillion plays Guy Gardner in the 2025 Superman film — not Hal. Chris Pine isn’t in the DCU. Chandler’s weathered, Friday-Night-Lights gravitas is exactly the mature Hal energy Gunn wanted for the show.

John Stewart — ex-Marine sniper, architect, and one of DC’s most iconic Black heroes — is played by a British actor who broke out in Barry Jenkins’ The Underground Railroad and Jeremy Saulnier’s Rebel Ridge. Who is he?

AAaron Pierre BWinston Duke CSterling K. Brown DJohn Boyega

✓ Correct! Aaron Pierre — the British actor who earned raves as Caesar in The Underground Railroad (2021) and carried Netflix’s Rebel Ridge (2024) with a performance frequently compared to early Denzel Washington. Gunn called his casting “a no-brainer.” Winston Duke, Sterling K. Brown and John Boyega are all great actors but not in the role.

✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is Aaron Pierre. Winston Duke is M’Baku in the Marvel universe. Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us, American Fiction) is Marvel-adjacent too. John Boyega famously played Finn in Star Wars. Pierre’s Rebel Ridge performance — playing a disciplined ex-Marine — is essentially his audition for John Stewart, and Gunn’s team cast him off it.

James Gunn has repeatedly pitched Lanterns as a grounded, small-town murder-mystery thriller — where the space-cop rings are secondary to a detective case on Earth. Which acclaimed HBO series is his go-to tonal comparison?

ATrue Detective BThe Wire CWestworld DWatchmen

✓ Correct! Gunn has explicitly called Lanterns his “True Detective in the DCU” — a slow-burn, atmospheric, character-driven case with superhero elements layered over a grounded murder mystery. Showrunner Chris Mundy actually did True Detective: Night Country duties, bringing that DNA directly. Watchmen (Damon Lindelof) was also cited, and Lindelof has consulting writer credits, but True Detective is the primary comp.

✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is True Detective. Gunn has named it as the explicit tonal blueprint — a slow-burn, character-driven murder mystery with superhero elements layered over it. Chris Mundy, the show’s runner, worked on True Detective: Night Country, bringing the DNA directly. Watchmen was a secondary comp (Damon Lindelof consults), but True Detective is the primary pitch.

When James Gunn and Peter Safran took over as DC Studios co-CEOs in 2022, they announced a rebooted slate of interconnected films and TV shows — with Lanterns among the launch titles. What is this first DCU phase officially called?

AChapter 1: Gods and Monsters BCrisis on Infinite Earths CThe Flashpoint Initiative DDark Knights Rising

✓ Correct! Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters — announced in January 2023 as the Gunn/Safran DCU’s opening slate. It includes Superman (2025), The Authority, Supergirl, The Brave and the Bold, Paradise Lost, Waller, Creature Commandos, and of course Lanterns. Crisis on Infinite Earths is a comics event; Flashpoint and Dark Knights are other DC storylines, not the chapter branding.

✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters. Crisis on Infinite Earths is a famous DC comics crossover event (and Arrowverse crossover) but not a DCU chapter label. Flashpoint was referenced in The Flash (2023) from the now-defunct DCEU. The Gunn/Safran era officially named its launch phase Gods and Monsters — Superman 2025, Lanterns, and related titles.

Green Lanterns serve the Guardians of the Universe, an ancient race who created the Corps’ 3,600-sector peacekeeping force and charge the Lantern rings from a central Power Battery on their home planet. What is the Guardians’ homeworld called?

AKrypton BOa CThemyscira DApokolips

✓ Correct! Oa — the small blue-skinned Guardians’ home at the centre of the universe. It houses the Central Power Battery from which all Green Lantern rings draw their energy, and serves as the Corps’ academy and operational base. Krypton is Superman’s destroyed homeworld; Themyscira is Wonder Woman’s hidden Amazon island; Apokolips is Darkseid’s hellscape.

✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is Oa. Krypton is Superman’s homeworld. Themyscira is Paradise Island where Wonder Woman was raised. Apokolips is Darkseid’s grim world in the Fourth World mythos. Oa is specifically the Guardians of the Universe’s planet — home to the Central Power Battery that fuels every Green Lantern ring in all 3,600 sectors.

Every Green Lantern recites the same oath when charging their ring — a four-line rhyming incantation that’s become one of the most famous pieces of verse in comic-book history. How does it famously begin?

A“In the darkest hour, a light shall rise...” B“In brightest day, in blackest night...” C“By the power of Oa, I serve...” D“Ring of willpower, heed my call...”

✓ Correct! “In brightest day, in blackest night / No evil shall escape my sight / Let those who worship evil’s might / Beware my power — Green Lantern’s light!” The oath dates back to 1940’s All-American Comics #16, was refined through the Silver Age, and is considered one of DC’s most sacred bits of verse. Every canonical adaptation includes some version of it.

✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is “In brightest day, in blackest night...” The full oath: “No evil shall escape my sight / Let those who worship evil’s might / Beware my power — Green Lantern’s light!” It’s been canon since 1940 and remains one of comics’ most instantly recognisable pieces of verse — recited in every major Green Lantern adaptation.

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Ring Depowered · Report to Oa Your Corps Rank

💍

/ 8

Honor Guard veteran — or still in Corps training?

⤴ RECHARGE RING

Not only does this basically confirm that Antaan was not Atrocitus, but it arguably makes debuting Atrocitus down the line in the DCU more difficult. Not only do they have such similar backgrounds, but it was also revealed that Zoe was the one who killed Hal Jordan's predecessor Abin Sur in the DCU, not Atrocitus like in the comics.

While Antaan's role in Lanterns first season could have laid the foundation for an exciting Atrocitus debut later on, the result is instead what feels like a pretty big waste of potential now that he's dead. However, the most powerful Red Lantern isn't the only classic DC foe who feels underutilized...

Lanterns Is Great (But Is It At DC Villains' Expense?)

On the one hand, there's nothing inherently wrong with Lanterns remixing and deviating from Green Lantern mythology per se. In fact, changing some of the most common and familiar comic-book elements has helped make the DCU show feel less predictable and more engaging. However, I do think the use of classic villains (or lack thereof) has so far been a key weakness for the series.

Beyond Antaan's death and not being revealed as Atrocitus (when he absolutely could have), Hector Hammond and Sinestro are prime examples as well. In Lanterns episode 4, Hector Hammond was not a major rival of Hal's with his large mutated head and super-intelligence. Instead, "Hector Hammond" was simply a decoy name connected to Zoe's network of protection rather than being an actual supervillain like he is on the page.

Likewise, although Sinestro did make his debut in Lanterns episodes 2 and 3, he's already locked up in a space prison due to an off-screen showdown with Hal Jordan (his former trainee) years prior to the events of the series, having attempted a coup against the Guardians (where he even murdered one of them). Thus far, Sinestro's only role on-screen has been to provide knowledge about the Manhunters and John Stewart to Hal when he came to visit his cell.

Hopefully, Lanterns is ultimately saving some of its biggest villains for the future rather than simply burning through them. There's maybe still hope for Sinestro and some sort of breakout, though one can imagine it'd be pretty hard to debut Atrocitus and/or Hector Hammond following this first season of Lanterns.

New episodes of Lanterns release Sunday nights on HBO Max from DC Studios.