- A midseason trailer for Lanterns has been released
- It teases the appearance of Guy Gardner, more Sinestro, and Hal Jordan’s possible killer
- The HBO TV show might also be adapting one of the best Green Lanterns stories of all time
HBO and DC Studios have debuted a midseason trailer for their hit show Lanterns — and its 2026 storyline appears to be inspired by a fan-favorite Green Lantern comic-book series.
Released yesterday (September 17), the teaser, well, teases what’s to come in the popular HBO Max TV series’ final three episodes. Be aware that the following trailer is full of potentially big spoilers for Lanterns episode 6 through 8. If you don’t want any plot points ruined ahead of time, click away now.
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I’m really not joking when I say the 90-second, hype-generating trailer for the DC Universe (DCU) TV show’s final three entries contains myriad spoilers.
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For starters, Guy Gardner, aka Earth’s new Green Lantern, is finally going to show up, although he has no interest in helping John Stewart investigate Hal Jordan’s death (more on this shortly). Other takeaways are that we’ll see Hal’s backstory at some point, and John and what seems to be the Hal-O-Gram — aka the digital backup of Hal’s consciousness that lives inside Hal’s power ring — travel to some alien worlds.
Additionally, we’ll be treated to more of Jordan’s villainous former mentor Sinestro. Considering the latter isn’t imprisoned in the space jail that we saw in episodes 2 and 4, he’s obviously been broken out by someone. Place your bets on who did the deed.
Furthermore, there’s also a surprising albeit expectedly cold reunion between John and at-the-time alive Hal in 2026. They haven’t seen each other since the devastating events of Lanterns episode 5, which occurred 10 years prior. Clearly, there’s no love lost between John and Hal after their brutal showdown in that chapter’s final act, too.
That said, there must be an ounce of underlying respect left, because Stewart sticks around Rushville to investigate Hal’s apparent murder. We’ve known that Hal Jordan is supposedly dead since Lanterns episode 1, but it’s only now that the DCU Chapter One program will shine a light on events before, during, and after Hal’s presumed demise.
And I keep saying that Hal’s death is only implied, because it looks like Lanterns‘ midseason trailer is teasing an adaptation of one of the most beloved Green Lantern tales of all-time…
Lanterns’ midseason trailer could be teasing a live-action take on DC’s ‘Blackest Night’ comic-book story
For the uninitiated, ‘Blackest Night’ is a DC Comics miniseries that ran from June 2009 to May 2010.
Written by acclaimed comic-book scribe Geoff Johns and penciled by Ivan Reis, it’s a crossover story that involved Earth’s four Green Lanterns in Stewart, Jordan, Gardner, and Kyle Rayner, other prominent Green Lantern figures like Sinestro, and characters from other DC properties.
Anyway, in the event that Lanterns‘ 2026 storyline is indeed inspired by ‘Blackest Night’, I won’t spoil everything that happens as part of its story. However, what I will say is that, if ‘Blackest Night’ has influenced Lanterns‘ next three episodes, it might explain how Hal Jordan could come back from the dead. Minor spoilers immediately follow for ‘Blackest Night’, so proceed at your own risk.
‘Blackest Night’ includes a DC comic-book character called Nekron, who can reanimate dead superheroes. I won’t say how they bring people back to life, but the fact that they can implies there might be a way for the DCU’s Hal Jordan to be resurrected.
Lanterns‘ midseason teaser doesn’t hide that this could be possible, either. At the 1:22 mark, we hear Sinestro tell John “Hal didn’t have to die in vain. I know a way…” before his sentence is seemingly cut short. Are DC and HBO hiding the fact that this line of dialog is supposed to end with Sinestro saying “I know a way to bring him back”?
That’s not the only clue that indicates Hal could be revived. As the aforementioned Sinestro voiceover plays, we see Hal lying on the floor as someone menacingly approaches him. Hal asks “what are you?” before the teaser moves on to the next excitement-building clip.
WAIT A MINUTE!Why does Hal Jordan have the same wound like John Stewart? Is Hal still alive, and the body we saw was a clone?! #Lanterns pic.twitter.com/EWvaWXU1yuSeptember 17, 2026
As multiple fans have pointed out online, Hal can be seen with a mark on his arm that’s identical to the one that John had after he was healed by Zoe, aka the mysterious Manhunter hunted by John and Hal in Lanterns‘ 2016 storyline. Remember, that mark was left because the Manhunters’ technology takes a tissue sample before it can heal/cure someone of their injuries or ailments.
If — and it’s a big if — Zoe (or another Manhunter we don’t know about!) took a tissue sample from Hal, it’s not only possible that his body could be cloned from said sample, but the Halo-O-Gram could be embedded into that clone. Hey presto, Hal Jordan lives once more.
Of course, that would negate the need for Nekron to be part of proceedings. Regardless, if Nekron doesn’t show up before Lanterns ends, it could still retroactively be inspired by the ‘Blackest Night’ comic series. All it needs to do is replace Nekron with a Manhunter cloning facility that, say, Sinestro located after his jailbreak, then lay the breadcrumbs for John and the Hal-O-Gram to follow to find him, and persuade them to bring Hal back from the dead. Sure, Sinestro will have a nefarious reason for wanting to do so, but I’m sure John and the Hal-O-Gram can find a way to outwit him.
What did you think of Lanterns‘ midseason trailer? Do you like the above theory, or have an even more impressive one of your own? Let me know in the comments. Once you’re done, check out the five biggest questions I have heading into Lanterns episode 6.
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