Posted in: HBO, Movies, TV | Tagged: dc studios, green lantern, lanterns, Tom King

Lanterns: Tom King on Doing Right by Hal & John; "DC Renaissance"

DC Studios' Lanterns co-creator Tom King on the "responsibility" to do right by the Green Lantern universe and how it "feels like a DC renaissance."

Between running the press junket for Creature Commandos, finishing up filming of the second season of Peacemaker, and continuing post-production work on Superman, DC Studios co-CEO and writer/director James Gunn has found some time to talk about some of the other projects over at DC Studios. Our radar has been fixed on Chris Mundy (True Detective: Night Country, Ozark), Damon Lindelof (Watchmen, The Leftovers), and Tom King's (Mister Miracle, Supergirl) Aaron Pierre (John Stewart) and Kyle Chandler (Hal Jordan)-starring Green Lanterns series Lanterns – and we like what we've been hearing so far (more on that in a minute). Now, we're getting some additional personal insights on the project from none other than King, who discussed the "responsibility" he felt to do right by the characters as they make the jump from the comics universe to the live-action series universe and how he feels like a "DC Renaissance" is at hand during a recent profile interview.

"I was friends with Neal Adams, the co-creator of John Stewart, and every time I was in the room, I felt Neal yelling at me: 'Don't forget where you come from, kid," King shared with Business Insider, explaining the pressure and "responsibility" that comes with bringing the Green Lantern universe to live-action life. As Gunn and DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran previously noted, the series is looking to keep a solid, sustained balance between the out-of-this-world stuff and the kind of storytelling that will allow viewers to connect with what they're watching on a real-world level. "Damon, Chris, and I came with a lot of love for the material, and we wanted to do what I've always done in comics, which is take these original creations and show why they're still relevant today and why they can speak to both the audience and the issues of everything we're dealing with," King explained. He added: "It feels like a DC renaissance. We're at the beginning of creating an entirely brilliant world." Along with Pierre and Chandler, the upcoming HBO series also stars Kelly Macdonald (Boardwalk Empire, In the Line of Duty), Garret Dillahunt (Fear The Walking Dead), and Poorna Jagannathan (Never Have I Ever, Deli Boys).

Lanterns: A Look Back at Some Things We Know So Far…

"Finally can talk about what I've been working on for the past year and more. From DC Studios and Warner Bros, we're bringing 'Lanterns' to HBO," King began his Instagram post from June, addressing the news much more openly than he could previously – even after Gunn confirmed that he would be working on the series. "Chris, Damon, and I created it; Chris is writing and running it while Damon and I write and executive produce. I like to think of it as from the creators of 'Ozark,' HBO's 'Watchmen,' and, of course, Batman meets Elmer Fudd."

He continued, "We're working with a dream team writer's room, putting together something thrilling and epic and intimate and grounded and funny and true—a superhero show that brings together the glories of the comics with the excellence of an HBO prestige drama. It's such an honor to work on these characters, to build on what titans John Broome, Gil Kane, Denny O'Neil, and my old pal (and Batman/Fudd fan), Neal Adams created. We're endlessly inspired by and grateful for the creativity of so many Lantern comic creators from 1940 to this Wednesday." Before closing, King added a personal perspective to the news: "On a personal level, my late mother was a Warner exec: being back on her lot, building something cool that she'd love—it feels real special."

When the series was first announced, Safran noted that the series would play a major role in their New DCU. Comparing it to "a huge HBO-quality event" along the lines of "True Detective," the "Green Lantern" series is set to focus on Hal Jordan and John Stewart – who investigate a mystery that Safran said during the initial rollout "plays a really big role leading us into the main story that we're telling across our film and television. So this is a very important show for us." James Hawes (Slow Horses, Penny Dreadful) has been tapped to helm the opening chapters of the series.

Noting that Lanterns and Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow would most likely be coming out at "around the same time" (which could mean around the beginning to middle of 2026), Gunn added that "we're getting ready to go" regarding production on the Green Lanterns series. After jokingly acting shocked that fans would have an opinion on casting, Gunn had some strong praise for not just the actors but also the creative team and what Gunn has seen so far during an interview earlier this month with IGN.

"The truth is Chris [Mundy] and Tom [King] and Damon [Lindelof] wrote an amazing series, like an incredible series. I'm so excited for people to see this. It's very grounded, very believable, very real. The kind of things that you would never think that would be the truth about a Green Lanterns television series. And very human, adult, and wonderful. And the story that they wrote fit a couple of actors who were of these ages and so that's who they cast. Those were their choices. I totally backed them up. I love them," Gunn shared about the HBO series. "So I'm really excited for people to see what those guys have come up with. But everything is to serve the story. The story is always first. The scripts are always first. And we would never be making this show if Chris and the guys hadn't turned in wonderful, beautiful scripts."

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