Did ‘Lanterns’ kill a key character? Breaking down the shocking premiere

Warning: Spoilers ahead! Do not proceed unless you’ve watched the series premiere of “Lanterns.”

Light a lantern.

HBO’s superhero show “Lanterns” is a gritty, “True Detective”-flavored take on the same DC Comics source material as the terrible 2011 Ryan Reynolds movie, “The Green Lantern.”

On Sunday’s series premiere, the show kicked off with a bang.

Two men, one Black and one white, sitting behind a rusty metal railing. — Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler (seen here) star in HBO’s “Lanterns.” HBO

Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern, with his arm raised and a green glow emanating from his hand, against a city backdrop. — “Lanterns” is based on the same comics source material as the terrible 2011 Ryan Reynolds movie, “Green Lantern” (a scene of which is pictured above). ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

The first episode ended by shockingly killing off its leading man, Kyle Chandler’s Hal Jordan.

The story is a superhero crime drama about Lanterns, which are essentially “space cops,” as the show explains.

Earth only has one “space cop” to protect everyone from intergalactic threats — Hal — but he also has a trainee, Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart.

Kyle Chandler, Aaron Pierre, and another actor on bleachers in the HBO show — “Lanterns” (a scene from which featuring Kelly Macdonald, Pierre and Chandler is seen above) appears to kick off by killing its leading man. HBO

Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre in the HBO show — The premiere episode of “Lanterns” ends with Pierre’s John Stewart discovering the dead body of Chandler’s Hal Jordan. (Pierre and Chandler are pictured above.) HBO

Most of the series premiere follows Hal and John in 2016, as they investigate a case in Nebraska. At the end of the episode, text onscreen says that the year is now 2026.

In the present day, John finds Hal’s dead body sitting on bleachers in that same Nebraska town where they had their case a decade earlier. His cause of death is unclear.

Did “Lanterns” put Chandler on the posters and pretend he’s the star when he’s only in one episode — similar to what ABC did with Ryan Phillippe on the Season 1 premiere of “Big Sky” in 2020?

The bulk of the first episode is set in 2016, when Hal and John are conducting their initial probe into the case in Nebraska. There’s no reason to think the 2016 story is wrapped up by the end of the first episode.

Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan with a Green Lantern ring. — Is “Lanterns” pretending that Chandler (pictured above) is the star, when he’s only in one episode? HBO

Aaron Pierre in a blue scrub shirt and pants, holding a glowing green lantern and a black bag, walking through a hazy, destroyed landscape. — “Lanterns” (a shot of which featuring Pierre is seen here) has two timelines, with Hal alive in 2016 but dead in 2026. HBO

In that timeline, the two men had more to investigate. Hal is alive and well until 2026.

So, with multiple timelines at play, odds are that Chandler isn’t only in one episode.

“Lanterns” is also a superhero show, where death isn’t always final. In the comics it’s based on, the character of Hal Jordan was originally created in 1959.

Jeremy Irvine as a Green Lantern in the HBO show — Given the multiple timelines, that might mean we see Chandler’s Hal in one while Pierre’s John (seen here) is alone in the other. HBO

Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre sitting at a bar in the HBO show — Given the character’s history in the comic books, it’s doubtful he’s gone for good. (Pierre and Chandler are seen above in a still from “Lanterns.”) HBO

In a 1996 crossover event in DC Comics known as “The Final Night,” Hal dies. He was later brought back to life in 2004’s “Green Lantern: Rebirth.” (Hal has also been a villain in comics, but that’s another story.)

So, even in the show’s source material he has many evolutions — including death — and that hasn’t stopped his story from continuing, so there’s no real reason to suspect the same isn’t true for “Lanterns.”

“Lanterns” airs on HBO on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET and streams on HBO Max.

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