HBO’s ‘Lanterns’ Has Critics and Audiences Rarely This Aligned on a DC Show

DC Studios has had a mixed track record building out James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new shared universe, with some projects landing solidly and others struggling to find an audience. That uneven history made this weekend’s premiere of ‘Lanterns‘ feel like a genuine test case for whether HBO’s grittier, detective-inspired approach to Green Lantern could actually work, especially given how much promotional attention the series has received leading up to its debut.

Co-created by Damon Lindelof, Chris Mundy, and Tom King, the series stars Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre as John Stewart, two intergalactic cops pulled into a murder investigation in the American heartland. Comparisons to ‘True Detective’ followed the show throughout its promotional rollout, and those comparisons only intensified once actual reviews started arriving ahead of its August 16 premiere on HBO and HBO Max.

Those reviews turned out to be some of the strongest the DCU has produced yet. ‘Lanterns’ opened with a 90% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes, and once audiences started weighing in following the premiere, the show’s Popcornmeter score climbed even higher to 92%, putting critics and viewers in rare, near-total agreement. Rotten Tomatoes’ critic consensus describes the show as offering “a controlled and fantastical escape,” crediting Chandler and Pierre’s performances alongside grounded writing and strong chemistry between the two leads.

Audience reactions echoed that praise directly. According to CBR, viewer reviews have been overwhelmingly positive, with many giving the show perfect five-star ratings and describing it as everything they wanted from a Green Lantern adaptation, praising its gripping mystery, rich mythology, and cosmic visuals.

Despite its strong reception, ‘Lanterns’ isn’t the highest-rated DC show to date. Both ‘Creature Commandos’ and ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2 hold higher Tomatometer scores at 95% and 94% respectively, while Matt Reeves’ ‘The Penguin’ also edges it out at 95%. Still, landing comfortably above shows like ‘Superman’ at 83% and well past 2011’s critically panned ‘Green Lantern’ film, which scored just 25% on Rotten Tomatoes, marks a significant improvement for the character’s live-action legacy after more than a decade of disappointment.

Not every critic joined the chorus of praise. San Francisco Chronicle critic Zaki Hassan pushed back on the show’s tone, arguing there should be a happier medium between campy CGI superhero fare and Chandler’s grittier, profanity-laced approach, while The New York Times’ Mike Hale similarly gave the show a “rotten” rating, describing it as almost entirely fixated on the dark night of the superhero’s soul rather than embracing more of the character’s cosmic scope.

‘Lanterns’ premiered Sunday, August 16, airing on HBO cable at 9 p.m. ET/PT and streaming simultaneously on HBO Max. The season consists of eight episodes total, with new installments continuing weekly, and work has reportedly already begun on a potential second season even though HBO hasn’t formally renewed the show yet, a sign of confidence given how early that decision has come in the show’s rollout.

With strong reviews from both critics and audiences now locked in, ‘Lanterns’ has positioned itself as one of the more promising entries in DC Studios’ still-developing shared universe. Between the near-parity in critic and audience scores and the show’s already-in-progress work on a second season, HBO appears to have another genuine hit on its hands.