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

Lanterns: Tom King Talks Chandler's Hal Jordan & Pierre's John Stewart

Tom King discusses DC Studios' Aaron Pierre & Kyle Chandler-starring Lanterns, why they're perfect as John Stewart and Hal Jordan, and more.

After getting a brief look at Chris Mundy (True Detective: Night Country), Damon Lindelof (Watchmen), and Tom King's (Supergirl) Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler-starring Lanterns in HBO/HBO Max's 2026 trailer, it was confirmed that the series would begin hitting screens in the late summer. As for the clip included in the trailer (which you can check out below), we had Hal Jordan (Chandler) and John Stewart (Pierre) standing in the back of a town hall meeting that appears to address the central issue at the heart of the series. Aside from the mystery, we see some tension between trainer (Hal) and trainee (John), with Hal telling John that the ring will let them know when John's ready to fly solo. To make his point, Hal placed a ring on the dashboard and jumped out of the moving car – leaving John (and the ring) to drive off a cliff. During the latest episode of Word Balloon, King offered insights into why Chandler and Pierre are perfect for the series and what each brings to the table.

"Oh god, Kyle is so good," King shared in the episode above (beginning at around the 1:07:50 mark). "When he showed up and just… he got it. Just like the first day, you were like, 'Oh!'" King went on to explain that he wasn't sure what to expect based on Chandler's previous work and how King envisioned Hal Jordan. "You know, Kyle's got kind of a southern vibe, and I always think of Hal as kind of a California guy – being a California guy myself." But it didn't take long for Chandler to win him over with his take on the ring-slinging hero, with King sharing, "he [Chandler] fit it so perfectly, that kind of that that combination of arrogance and yet like a grounded arrogance, that's how Jordan is." King compared his vision of Hal Jordan as someone who's "got that sort of Captain Kirk in him. He's got that fearlessness. He asks if God needs a starship. Like, that's who Hal Jordan is. It's no fear, you know? It's 'no fear, all sky," [which] was what I put in my book. And Kyle just immediately got it and occupied that and had that kind of cockiness, but like an everyday cocky; that kind of Harrison Ford cockiness, you know, like that movie star, that is just perfect."

"Aaron Pierre is just, you know, he's a rocket ship. He's launching. He's the next… You know, he's going to be on every billboard in our lives [for the] next 20 years. He's a huge movie star. He's in the he's in the new 'Star Wars' movie, if people don't know. And he's just… he is John Stewart," King added about Pierre. "When I first time I met him, I was like, 'Oh my god, you're a superhero.' When you look him in the face, you're like, 'That is a superhero. I'm meeting a superhero in person.' That's what it's like to meet him – and the nicest guy in the world. Both of them are just very down-to-earth and had no airs at all, even though they're huge stars, and treated this little nerdy comic book person with such kindness. I was very grateful." Make sure to check out the entire episode above, with King also discussing what it was like working with television heavy-hitters Mundy and Lindelof and what he learned from the experience.

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), and Cary Christopher (Days of Our Lives). 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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