This article contains spoilers for Lanterns.
Look how far Lanterns has come. Just months ago, we were wringing our hands about HBO‘s Green Lantern adaptation, thanks to promotional materials that had as little green as the show’s title. Fans worried that the series would be embarrassed about the franchise’s weird mythology and instead try to sell the public a True Detective knock-off that was Green Lantern in name only, if even that.
Turns out, everyone was right and wrong. Lanterns did indeed mostly play like a True Detective riff, with Silver Age sci-fi sprinkled along the sides. But creators Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King told such a compelling story, and stars Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre had such presence that the show became a genuine hit. So even though the series ended with Hal Jordan’s definitive death, and even though a second season has not yet been greenlit, a second season of Lanterns seems possible—and that means that it’s time for making an irresponsible wish list!
A New Lantern Pairing
Look, absolutely no one will be upset if Kyle Chandler wants to come back for a second season. Between the comic book logic baked into the premise and Damon Lindelof being Damon Lindelof, there are certainly plenty of ways that Hal could come back from getting shot in the head by his girlfriend. But the show sure seemed like it was done with him, and that’s okay, because there are a lot of other GLs in the Corps to pal around with John Stewart in season 2.
The most obvious pick is Guy Gardner. Not only does Guy have a history with John, but he also has a bone to pick with Earth’s unofficial GL. Still, it would be nice to see John forced to pair with another GL, possibly someone younger. Kyle Rayner is the most popular GL to not yet appear, and John has mentored him in the comics. But it might also be nice to see Lanterns get weird and to bring in some female GLs (something Hal memorably predicted in his eulogy). Jessica Cruz is always welcome, but it would be interesting to see John with Jo Mullein, especially if she gets something like the experimental ring she wields in the comics (and especially if they cast Janelle Monáe, whose look inspired Jo’s original design).
Sinestro
Despite much speculation, Lanterns did not end with Sinestro getting a yellow ring and forming the Sinestro Corps. But the series didn’t rule that out, either. The finale ends with Sinestro stranded on a planet that makes people afraid, where he was just talking about the power of fear, and where he forged a lantern that operates in part on fear. Time to just pull the trigger and let Sinestro be Sinestro, you cowards.
Okay, even if the Lanterns braintrust doesn’t want to make Green Lantern all about Corps of various colors, like the comics have become, season two has to at least give us more Sinestro in some form. Ulrich Thomsen had such a creepy, charismatic take on the character that he controlled the screen every time he showed up. We don’t care if he’s commanding an army or just behind bars again, we’ll take as much of the renegade Green Lantern as we can get!
More Villains
Beyond Sinestro, season 1 gave us variations of classic GL villains the Manhunters and Hector Hammond, which means that season 2 can go even deeper into the rogues gallery. Many online believed that Will Macon would turn out to be William Hand a.k.a. the Black Hand, but that fake out leaves room for a proper version to appear on screen, either as “the cliché criminal” from the Silver Age or the current zombie version with a Black Lantern Ring. It would be fun to see a second season go for some real weirdos like Shark or Sonar, especially if the latter can further flesh out the new DCU.
But the most obvious pick would be someone connected to the Guardians, if not a Guardian themselves. A second season could go deeper into Lantern lore to bring in Volthoom, the First Lantern, which would satisfy those who want more color Corps. Or they could just give us a mad Guardian like Old Timer, if not Krona, the guy who introduced evil into the world in the first place.
A Few More Planets
Look, we all liked Lanterns, and we’re sure Nebraska is a wonderful state. But we’d be lying if we said we wouldn’t have liked to see more outer space in a show about cops who work in outer space. Even if John has declared himself the terrestrial GL, you can’t keep dropping Mogo’s name without giving us at least a glimpse of Mogo.
If not Mogo, then at least some other planets. The cosmos of the DC Universe has been surprisingly underdeveloped, as Lanterns stayed largely on Earth and Supergirl only visited three planets, and three indistinct ones at that. Now that Lanterns has proven successful, HBO should up the budget so we can go places like Rann and Thanagar, visit Legion of Super-Heroes worlds like Braal and Winath. At least go to some other GL home planets, like Xudar or Bolovax Vik (provided Sinestro hasn’t blown it up in this universe).
More of the Same
As we Lanterns fans make all of these demands, we also have to face the facts. We did get a Green Lantern adaptation that was faithful to the comics, that had lots of canonical villains, that featured Sinestro and Kilowog and Tomar-Re, that even set up the Yellow Lantern Corps. That was the 2011 Green Lantern movie with Ryan Reynolds, and it absolutely sucked. That movie reminds us that fan service is no substitute for good storytelling.
Lanterns had good storytelling in spades. So, more than anything else on this list, the thing we really want from season two of Lanterns is more of what we got in season one: solid storytelling, interesting characters, and strong emotional beats. If Lanterns season 2 can match the quality of season 1, then it doesn’t matter if it’s eight episodes of Kari Limbo and Tom Kalmaku wearing burlap sacks and walking around the Nevada desert, we’re going to watch it.
All of Lanterns is now streaming on HBO Max.
