‘Lanterns’ Season 2 Can’t Undo the HBO Series’ Greatest Twist

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Published Oct 8, 2026, 12:06 AM EDT

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Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Lanterns Season 1.

After eight excellent episodes, Lanterns Season 1 has finally come to a close, confirming the twist it laid out all the way back in the series premiere: unfortunately, Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) is definitely dead. The season finale, "Dirt and Stars," however, hints at the possibility of him coming back in a not-so-distant future, when Thaal Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen) tells the "Hal-o-gram" and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) that he knows a way to use Hal's ring to bring him "back to life, for real." There has since been a lot of speculation about whether Sinestro was telling the truth or only bluffing, but, regardless, Hal shouldn't be brought back to life in the upcoming Season 2. As great a character as he is and as perfect as Chandler's portrayal is, it's time for us all to let Hal go.

Hal Jordan Comes Back Many Times in the Comics, but the DCU Should Follow Its Own Path

Before Lanterns premiered, one of the main bets among Green Lantern fans was that Hal's character would somehow either become Parallax, or at least that the series would introduce this concept for further seasons or movies. Lanterns did neither, but Sinestro's line about potentially bringing Hal back has some fans hopeful that this might be how Parallax shows up, considering that Hal has been resurrected many times in the comics. So, it isn't a stretch to imagine the DCU doing the same, right?

Not really. As James Gunn once pointed out about how death works in the DCU, "if you die, you're dead." So it really isn't likely that Hal Jordan, the real one, will come back, and neither should he. The Hal-o-gram also straight up declines Sinestro's offer to be "brought back." The real Hal's arc in Lanterns is defined by his difficulty with letting things go, but, in his final moments, there seems to be some peace about this. Although he certainly wasn't planning on dying, he did know of the risk and left things set up for John to solve the mystery without him.

Concerning Hal's fate and Parallax's role in the future of the DCU, by now it's clear that Gunn's take on this universe is about forging an original path inspired by the classic DC Comics, but not necessarily about following them to the letter. This has also been addressed by series showrunner Chris Mundy, who described Lanterns as a "remix" — just like Gunn's Superman, by the way. If Hal is to be brought back, it should be to serve the narrative established in Season 1, not to undermine it.

Hal’s Return Would Hinder John Stewart’s Development Arc in ‘Lanterns’ Season 1

Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre in Lanterns Episode 6

Hal may have come back countless times in the comics, but TV isn't comics. Resurrection isn't a tool that should be used often, and doing it with Hal Jordan — especially after we've seen how he dies — hinders the impact of his loss on John Stewart. As Lanterns co-creator Damon Lindelof put it, showing us that Hal is really dead only to bring him back later would be the "worst possible schmuck-baity thing." That's precisely how such serious tools lose credibility.

As it stands, bringing Hal back in the present-day DCU timeline would fulfill only fan-serving and commercial purposes, not narrative ones, as there is simply nothing about Hal that John needs to learn or confront anymore. John is Lanterns' undeniable protagonist, which is ultimately about his rise as a Lantern and Hal's successor. In that sense, Hal's main purpose as a character is to provide John with the foundation to grow. Right now, John has outgrown Hal, who, in turn, has played his part and gotten his own memorable ending.

Even if Hal really does end up being brought back as Parallax, there is still no point in having John fight him. They spend most of Lanterns either trying to work themselves out, or going at one another, so John has already faced as much of Hal as he could possibly need to. Kyle Chandler's take on Hal really is excellent, and it would indeed be a shame not to see it again, but there is a 20-year gap in which he serves as Sector 2814's Green Lantern; that's where his potential DCU return is.

There Are Other Ways for Sinestro and Parallax To Become Major Villains

The greatest issue around this whole "bringing Hal back" debacle is that Sinestro doesn't usually lie and is more of a "brutal truth" kind of guy, so if he says he can do it, he probably can. There are indeed plenty of ways for that to happen, from digging out Hal's body from the grave to making the Hal-o-gram a living thing, but to do any of that, he must go through John first, so, if anything, Sinestro's line should set him up as John's next big confrontation. Right now, he seems at the cusp of establishing his own Sinestro Corps in the DCU, and that's the way to go.

In the comics, Hal really is the closest character to Sinestro, so it might feel weird at first to see John going against him instead. But it's already been established that the DCU is a "remix," not a faithful adaptation of the comics, so John being Hal's successor may imply more than becoming a Lantern, too. His yellow-streaked lantern might hint at him becoming Parallax in the future, for example, and, right now, that wouldn't feel out of place in the DCU at all. This would make way for more Lanterns to be introduced, too, which is definitely more urgent than bringing anyone back from the dead unnecessarily.

Lanterns is available to stream on HBO Max.