Posted in: HBO, Max, Movies, TV | Tagged: lanterns

Lanterns: Kyle Chandler on His "Damn the Torpedoes" Approach to Series

Kyle Chandler discusses taking on the role of Hal Jordan in HBO/HBO Max and DC Studios' Lanterns and his "damn the torpedoes" approach to it.

As Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King's Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler-starring series Lanterns inches closer to its August debut (and panel presentation during this month's San Diego Comic-Con), one of its lead stars is opening up about what the opportunity to front a major television project like the upcoming "Green Lantern" series meant to him at this point in his career. Speaking with Men's Journal for a cover profile on his life and career, Chandler discussed how the COVID-19/pandemic lockdown years "kind of shook me up" on a number of levels. "I wouldn't say depression. I wouldn't say anxiety. I wouldn't say I was agoraphobic. A little bit of all that caused this really strange haze in the air," the actor explained. But the opportunity to co-star opposite Pierre in DC Studios' first live-action series foray into the DCU (HBO Max's Peacemaker was "grandfathered" into the DCU, and HBO's The Penguin is part of Matt Reeves' "The Batman" universe) helped turn things around. "The old man upstairs said, 'Hey, I'm gonna give you a gift.' He threw me a bone, and I chewed that thing all the way through. Before I went out, I decided I'm gonna have fun. Damn the torpedoes," Chandler added.

During a recent interview with EW, Mundy offered some very interesting details on the upcoming series – here's a look:

"Lanterns" Will Run 2 Timelines: 2016 and 2026: The series kicks off in 2016, with a shooting in the town of Rushville, Neb. Having kept an eye on the town, Hal is certain that the incident was alien-related – but Sheriff Kerry (Kelly Macdonald) isn't convinced. But the series will also focus on "something else" that's going down in 2026. "That becomes a second mystery that we know is down the road for us. So eventually two different mysteries get worked out over the course of the show," Mundy shared. As we've heard in the past, Mundy makes a comparison to how HBO's True Detective was structured. "It was less of a whodunnit as much as like, what happened and why? We think of this as a relationship show between John and Hal, and there's a lot to unpack over the course of the eight episodes," the showrunner added.

In that ten-year gap, the events of DC Studios' Superman will have taken place, with Nathan Fillion's "fabulously obnoxious" Guy Gardner set to "be in the show a few different times." Mundy added, "There are a bunch of other people from the mythology, from the canon, but not the other Lanterns. We talk about them at different times, but they're not gonna interact with them in the course of this season."

Mundy on Ulrich Thomsen's Sinestro Training Hal, Maybe Not Being the Big Bad: "Obviously in the canon, Sinestro's the big bad. The thing that interests us is this idea [that] Hal was trained by Sinestro, Hal is training John. In the coaching tree, we're very interested in what gets passed on, what doesn't, how much is human nature. We talked a lot about programming and parenting and training…What did Hal take away from Sinestro that was good or bad? It brings up a lot of interesting worries," Mundy noted.

Mundy: "It's a Green Lantern Show, So There's Green": Mundy made it clear that "there's plenty" of visual effects in the series, but the foundation is grounded. "There are a couple episodes where they're incredibly heavy, but from the jump, it's a much more boots-on-the-ground approach," Munday shared. "It's a Green Lantern show, so there's green."

"The aesthetic of the show – it's supposed to be very grounded and real, so we're shooting practically in places," the showrunner continued. "We're not heavily green-screened. It's not like day glow in its presentation of anything. I think Green Lantern fans will not feel like we've somehow made a brown show of their green comic at all. It's very much 'we're in the world,' and then when we use the constructs, they're what people would expect them to be."

Mundy on the "Not Enough Green" Teaser Complaint: "We could have put out a trailer that was tremendously green. So the fact that people are talking about it just means, to me, that they're excited about the show. We have a lot of respect for the source material, otherwise we wouldn't be doing this show. I think when people see it, it won't be a controversy."

Lanterns: Hawes on "True Detective" Talk, Aaron Pierre & DC Studios

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter in support of his feature film, The Amateur, Hawes addressed the True Detective comparisons, what Pierre brings to the series, and how it's been (so far) working with DC Studios:

Hawes on How "Lanterns" Compares In Tone to "True Detective": "Talking tone, it looks and feels rooted. You meet two guys, but there is wit and comedy to it that you would not expect in 'True Detective.' It is, in many ways, a buddy cop structure with travel in the story time, to and fro, that is really sophisticated. Chris Mundy has done the most amazing job with the team there, and so I think [the 'True Detective' comparison] is valid. People will still go, 'What were you talking about?' to some extent, but I would also bring in 'No Country for Old Men,' 'Fargo,' and things that have that Americana heart to them. There's a wry humor, and so there definitely is more wit and humor than there is in 'True Detective.'"

Hawes on Aaron Pierre Having a "Magnificent Presence": "I honestly think he did it totally individually in the room. With some chemistry castings and the like, it just felt like he would inhabit the role. He has such a magnificent presence. He feels so forceful, so cool, so understated. Again, I wanted this world to be rooted, and while there's only so far you can go with rooting characters in a show about Green Lantern, they are. This is a world where we accept that the Green Lanterns exist and aliens exist. So the rest of it is played straight and in the world as we know it."

Hawes on Working with DC Studios: "Well, I can only tell you from my experience, which is that it has been inspiring and supportive and truly thrilling. I will know more in a few months' time, but right now, [Lanterns] just felt like a real burst of creative energy.

The series spotlights new recruit John Stewart (Pierre) and legendary Lantern Hal Jordan (Chandler), two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, Earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland. Along with Pierre and Chandler, the DC Studios series stars Garret Dillahunt (Fear The Walking Dead), Kelly Macdonald (Boardwalk Empire, In the Line of Duty), Poorna Jagannathan (Never Have I Ever, Deli Boys), Ulrich Thomsen (Counterpart, The Blacklist), Nicole Ari Parker (And Just Like That), Jason Ritter (Matlock), J. Alphonse Nicholson (P-Valley), Sherman Augustus (Stranger Things), Jasmine Cephas Jones (Blindspotting), Chris Coy (Bass Reeves), Paul Ben-Victor (Nobody Wants This), Cary Christopher (Days of Our Lives), and Laura Linney (Ozark). In addition, Nathan Fillion will be reprising his Superman role as Green Lantern Guy Gardner for the series. Helming the series are directors James Hawes, Stephen Williams, Geeta Vasant Patel, and Alik Sakharov. Based on the DC Comics Green Lantern, the series is executive produced by Mundy, Lindelof, Gunn, Safran, King, Hawes, and Ron Schmidt.

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