Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler in “Lanterns.”
HBO/Max
Lanterns, a new DC series starring Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre from James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU Universe, is being met with positive reviews from Rotten Tomatoes’ critics.
The release of Lanterns marks the third series from Gunn and Safran’s DCU, following Creature Commandos and Peacemaker Season 2. The DCU to date also consists of two feature films — hit Superman reboot starring David Corenswet and the big miss Supergirl, starring Milly Alcock— with a third movie, Clayface, on the way in the fall.
The series premiere of Lanterns kicks off on Sunday, Aug. 16, with Episode 1. The series will be streaming on HBO Max beginning at 9 p.m. ET, and airing on cable on HBO at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Lanterns stars Chandler as Green Lantern legend Hal Jordan, who takes a new Lantern, John Stewart (Pierre), under his wing as the intergalactic cops descend upon Earth to investigate a murder in the American heartland.
Created by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof and Tom King, Lanterns also stars Kelly Macdonald, Garret Dillahunt, Poorna Jagannathan, Laura Linney, Jason Ritter, Ulrich Thomsen, Nathan Fillion, J. Alphonse Nicholson and Jasmine Cephas Jones.
The review embargo for Lanterns was lifted on Friday, and as of this publication, the series has earned an 89% “fresh” critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer based on 35 reviews. RT’s Critics Consensus, Audience Summary and Popcornmeter score are still pending.
Note: This article will be updated with more RT reviews as they are posted.
What Are Individual Critics Saying About ‘Lanterns’?
Kathryn VanArendonk of New York Magazine/Vulture is among the top critics on RT who give Lanterns a “fresh” score, writing, “Kyle Chandler’s having a rip-roaring time as sardonic Hal Jordan, and until John Stewart is allowed to loosen up a bit, he carries the series on his shoulders.”
Amon Warmann of Empire Magazine is also a fan of Lanterns, writing in his “fresh” RT review summary, “The grounded and gritty approach pays dividends for Lanterns, which gives the DCU a much-needed win.”
Bob Strauss of The Wrap is also high on Lanterns, writing on RT, “As solid a screen presence as anyone today, Pierre radiates reliability even as John flirts with betrayal or copes with failure. He also manages to mesh multiple iterations that inform his character persuasively — an astronomical acting accomplishment.”
In his “fresh” review summary on RT, David Fear of Rolling Stone writes, “Yes, things still do get blowed up real good, and real green! They just tend to do so on terra firma, with far more human stakes than usual.”
Zaki Hassan of the San Francisco Chronicle is among the top critics on RT who give Lanterns a “rotten” score, writing, “There must be a happy medium between Ryan Reynolds wearing a CGI onesie and Kyle Chandler dropping f-bombs every other word, and taking something seriously doesn’t require pretending it isn’t fantastical.”
Mike Hale of The New York Times isn’t a fan of Lanterns, either, writing in his “rotten” RT review summary, “Lanterns is almost entirely about the dark night of the superhero’s soul.”
Lanterns premieres on Sunday, Aug. 16, with Episode 1. It will begin streaming on HBO Max beginning at 9 p.m. ET, and airing on cable on HBO at 9 p.m. ET/PT.