James Gunn Says DC Studios’ Upcoming ‘Lanterns’ Series Is Not Based On Any Specific Comic Run, Will Instead See Tom King “Doing A Version” Of The Green Lanterns
To the extreme dismay of audiences who either like the original source material or just good writing in general, DC Studios co-head James Gunn has revealed that rather than taking inspiration from any of the Corps.’ many, many comic book adventures, the upcoming Lanterns TV series will instead tell a wholly original story from none other than notorious DC writer Tom King.
Gunn confirmed this unfortunate creative direction for Hal Jordan and John Stewart’s upcoming silver screen outing during a recent DC Studios press event, as hosted by the Warner Bros. Discovery subsidiary on February 21st.
Per a recap of the event’s ending Q&A session provided by The Nerds of Color‘s Mike Manalo, upon being directly asked whether Lanterns‘ story would draw inspiration from any of either Hal, John or the entire GL Corps’ lengthy comic book histories, Gunn explained, “No, it’s more like Tom doing a version of Lanterns the same way that he did [Supergirl:] Woman of Tomorrow [Vol.1] , the same way he did Mister Miracle [Vol. 4], or in the same way he did my favorite, Strange Adventures [Vol. 5].”
Further, in terms of the Green Lantern detective series potentially receiving more than one season, the Superman director detailed, “Lanterns is eight episodes. And it could easily be a continuing series. And I will just say that.”
“You know, we are incredibly fortunate to have Tom [King], Chris [Mundy], and Damon Lindelof at the helm,” he added. “Those guys are just masters. And you know, [John Stewart actor] Aaron Pierre is magnificent. [Hal Jordan actor] Kyle Chandler is amazing. We really, really are lucky. James Hawes, who’s directing it — you know that first season of Slow Horses was incredible television, and he’s bringing all of his skills to the table. So we’re feeling good.”
For those unaware of why this news would be cause for such disappointment among most comic book fans, despite the mountains of praise that mainstream critics have heaped upon his work, King, who was announced as a writer for Lanterns during Gunn’s 2024 DC Studios slate reveal, has a bibliography work whose every entry can best be described as ‘a juvenile attempt at subverting expectations layered with high school level ‘deep’ writing’.
Take, for example, his run on Batman Vol. 3, where after stringing fans along for years with the promise that Batman and Catwoman would finally be tying the knot, he instead had the feline-themed thief leave the Dark Knight at the alter, her reasoning boiling down to a refusal to share space in his heart with his mission to protect Gotham.
Then there’s his truly unhinged time on Human Target Vol. 4, where he moved to subvert the public image of the fan-favorite and usually light-hearted Justice League International by turning all of their members into broken, twisted, and completely amoral reflections of their former selves.
Perhaps the worst victim is Guy Gardner (coincidentally another member of the Green Lantern Corps), who is not only depicted as Ice’s abusive and possessive ex-boyfriend who won’t leave her alone, but is eventually frozen by her hand before being subsequently shattered on the ground and left to die as the white-haired superheroine proceeds to ‘get intimate’ with Human Target right next to his melting corpse.)
Of course, no mention of King would be complete without also bringing up his abysmal work on the DC crossover event Heroes in Crisis Vol. 1, where in service of a surface level exploration of mental health, trauma, and therapy, the CIA-spook-turned-comic-book-writer either completely ignores or assassinates the established personalities of every character involved before ultimately wrapping things up by turning the original Kid Flash, Wally West, into a time-travelling mass murderer.
For something more recent, one need look no further than his currently ongoing run on Wonder Woman Vol. 6, which kicked off with the ‘big reveal’ that the United States of America has been secretly ruled from the shadows by a virulently bigoted old white man since its formation and since seen its narrative turn into a weird attempt to turn Diana into an avatar for the jingoistic version of the promoted by the government during the Iraq War (which unsurprisingly served as King’s primary theater of engagement during his aforementioned time with the CIA).
All in all, in light of Gunn’s latest update, it seems that rather than delivering longtime Green Lantern fans a ‘Brightest Day’, Lanterns is more than likely gearing up to extend the Corps’ current ‘Blackest Night’ of live-action adaptations for at least a few more unfortunate years.
More About:TV Show News
Read this Next
