'Lanterns' Co-Creator Apologizes for "Sloppy and Careless" Comments After Fan Backlash

4 hours ago 3

Published Mar 17, 2026, 1:35 PM EDT

Rohan Naahar is a Weekend News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he'll watch anything once.

He has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal of introducing audiences to a whole new world of cinema.

You'd expect an Earth-shattering showdown when one of the greatest television writers of his generation feuds with one of the greatest comic book writers ever. But the recent "war of words" between Damon Lindelof and Grant Morrison — the GOATs of their respective fields — is an example of how to de-escalate a situation with maturity. The controversy began when Lindelof appeared to mock one of the more cartoonish elements of the Green Lantern comics, which didn't sit too well with Morrison, who has authored many of them. Instead of doubling down on his earlier comments, which were made in 2024, Lindelof hopped on Instagram and apologized immediately. He shared a two-decade-old picture of himself at the San Diego Comic-Con, wearing a Green Lantern shirt, in an attempt to convey just how sincere he is about adapting the comics for the upcoming HBO series Lanterns.

He wrote that he owes an explanation to the fans of the comic book character, many of whom would presumably be upset by his "dumb joke on a comedy podcast." In 2024, Lindelof went on the Lovett or Leave It podcast and made comments that have since resurfaced. “It’s called Lanterns because we all agreed that the green was stupid. Now, it’s just Lanterns," he said. Reacting to the resurfaced comments, Morrison wrote on Substack that calling any element of the character "stupid" was tantamount to insulting its fans. He wrote, "What is this jockish dismissal of superhero conventions intended to prove, anyway? Does Lindelof imagine it makes him seem less nerdy? It’s a bit too late for that, so what’s it all about? The only people who give a f—k about the Lanterns TV series are Green Lantern fans. Why alienate them at the start? That feels more like ‘stupid’."

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Read Damon Lindelof's Full Apology Note Here

In his new post, Lindelof walked back his controversial comments and wrote that green is, in fact, his favorite color. "For a quiet, uncoordinated kid, there was nothing cooler than a hero whose superpower was his imagination. And green is not stupid, it is my lifelong favorite color and I have a questionnaire that I filled out in third grade to prove it... I was sloppy and careless with my words, ironic considering I care so much about Hal, John and the entire Corps. I can and will do better to be worthy of the oath… until then, I’ll let the show speak for itself and I can’t wait for you all to hear what it has to say," he wrote. Lindelof, who is best-known for having co-created the generational shows Lost, The Leftovers, and Watchmen, is a co-creator on Lanterns alongside Tom King and Chris Mundy. Starring Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre as Hal Jordan and John Stewart, respectively, Lanterns premieres on HBO in August. Morrison's comic book "All-Star Superman" served as an inspiration for James Gunn's Superman reboot, which embraced the character's inherent innocence and distanced itself from previous dark portrayals.