Forget Superman, James Gunn's DCU Just Introduced The Most Powerful Characters In The Franchise

Published Sep 1, 2026, 11:18 PM EDT Since 2019, Kevin Erdmann has been one of Screen Rant's Senior Staff Writers, covering all kinds of Superhero and Star Wars media with Easter egg breakdowns, theory pieces, breaking news, and more. A huge Star Wars & MCU fan, Kevin also loves Batman (because he's Batman), but could talk for hours about why Nightwing is DC's greatest hero. With 8 years of total experience covering entertainment and pop culture, Kevin has gotten the chance to interview top creatives and talent, and has also attended major media events like Disney's D23 convention. Majoring in Cinema Studies with a minor in Comics and Cartoon Studies from the UofO, Kevin lives in Oregon with his wonderful wife, adorable dog, and sinister cat who is no doubt currently plotting his demise. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Lanterns episode 3 James Gunn's DCU continues to expand, introducing new characters and powers to this new interconnected universe with every new project. This includes Lanterns, starring Aaron Pierre as John Stewart and Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan, which has just given us our best look yet at some of DC's most powerful cosmic beings. As seen in Lanterns episode 3, the new series does a deep dive into John Stewart's DCU origins. Fated to wear a power ring since he was a baby, we're shown John's unorthodox upbringing, his time as a Marine sniper, as well as the interview that officially saw Stewart become Hal Jordan's trainee in 2016, just before they investigate a series of alien murders in Nebraska. However, we also get introduced to one of the Guardians in this episode, one of the most powerful beings in the entire DC Universe. The primary Guardian in this new episode is played by Laura Linney, having assumed a human disguise to keep other humans at ease. That said, we do get a brief glimpse of her true form before the ending of Lanterns episode 3, along with several key reveals about the Guardians of the Universe in general, as well as their current goals. That said, there's something about this Guardian that doesn't feel quite right to me. Lanterns Episode 3 Just Debuted Our First Look At The Guardians of the Universe After being referenced in the first two episodes of Lanterns, the Guardians of the Universe finally make their physical debut in this third episode. Shortly after John Stewart Sr. was passed over by Abin Sur's power ring when he admitted to his fear, Laura Linney's Guardian met with John Stewart's mother, agreeing that her son would one day be given the chance to replace Hal Jordan. Sector 2814 · Ring Active How Well Do You Know Lanterns? “In brightest day, in blackest night...” 💍The RingPowered by will 🔦The Corps3,600 sectors 🌌OaThe Guardians 👮Earth BeatSector 2814 ⚠YellowPerilThe fear entity ACTIVATE RING → 01 Lanterns is one of the tentpole TV series launching James Gunn and Peter Safran’s rebooted DC Universe. On which streaming platform does it air? ANetflix BHBO Max CDisney+ DApple TV+ ✓ Correct! HBO Max — Warner Bros. Discovery’s flagship streamer and the natural home for DCU prestige TV alongside Peacemaker and The Penguin. Lanterns is positioned as the DCU’s high-end serialised drama counterpart to Gunn’s theatrical Superman relaunch, sharing canon with the films. Disney+ runs Marvel; Netflix and Apple are rival streamers. ✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is HBO Max. Netflix has had various superhero shows but not DCU. Disney+ is Marvel’s home. Apple TV+ doesn’t house DC. HBO Max is Warner Bros. Discovery’s streamer and the TV home of the Gunn/Safran DCU — Lanterns joins Peacemaker and upcoming DCU series there. NEXT → 02 Unlike most Green Lantern adaptations, Lanterns pairs two Earth-based ring-bearers in a buddy-cop framework — a weathered veteran and a newer recruit partnered together on Sector 2814 duty. Which two Lanterns lead the show? AHal Jordan & Guy Gardner BHal Jordan & John Stewart CJohn Stewart & Kyle Rayner DHal Jordan & Kyle Rayner ✓ Correct! Hal Jordan and John Stewart — two of the most beloved Earth-assigned Lanterns — are paired as the show’s central duo. Hal is the hot-shot test-pilot veteran, John the disciplined ex-Marine architect with a sharper sense of justice. The pairing draws heavily from the Geoff Johns comics era and lets the show explore two very different philosophies of what a Green Lantern should be. ✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is Hal Jordan and John Stewart. Guy Gardner (played by Nathan Fillion) is a separate DCU character who appears in the 2025 Superman film. Kyle Rayner is a beloved Lantern but not part of this show. The Lanterns duo is the Hal/John pairing — a pointedly contrasting veteran and recruit on Sector 2814 duty together. NEXT → 03 The role of Hal Jordan — the weathered, test-pilot-turned-space-cop original Earth Lantern — went to a veteran actor best known as Coach Eric Taylor on Friday Night Lights and for leading Bloodline. Who plays Hal? ARyan Reynolds (reprising) BKyle Chandler CNathan Fillion DChris Pine ✓ Correct! Kyle Chandler — Emmy winner for Friday Night Lights, star of Bloodline, and part of the Monsterverse (Godzilla: King of the Monsters) — plays an older, weathered Hal Jordan. James Gunn wanted a seasoned, grounded presence rather than a rookie. Ryan Reynolds played Hal in 2011’s widely-mocked Green Lantern film (a different continuity); Nathan Fillion plays Guy Gardner in the 2025 Superman film. ✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is Kyle Chandler. Ryan Reynolds’ Hal was the 2011 film (a separate, mostly-disowned continuity). Nathan Fillion plays Guy Gardner in the 2025 Superman film — not Hal. Chris Pine isn’t in the DCU. Chandler’s weathered, Friday-Night-Lights gravitas is exactly the mature Hal energy Gunn wanted for the show. NEXT → 04 John Stewart — ex-Marine sniper, architect, and one of DC’s most iconic Black heroes — is played by a British actor who broke out in Barry Jenkins’ The Underground Railroad and Jeremy Saulnier’s Rebel Ridge. Who is he? AAaron Pierre BWinston Duke CSterling K. Brown DJohn Boyega ✓ Correct! Aaron Pierre — the British actor who earned raves as Caesar in The Underground Railroad (2021) and carried Netflix’s Rebel Ridge (2024) with a performance frequently compared to early Denzel Washington. Gunn called his casting “a no-brainer.” Winston Duke, Sterling K. Brown and John Boyega are all great actors but not in the role. ✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is Aaron Pierre. Winston Duke is M’Baku in the Marvel universe. Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us, American Fiction) is Marvel-adjacent too. John Boyega famously played Finn in Star Wars. Pierre’s Rebel Ridge performance — playing a disciplined ex-Marine — is essentially his audition for John Stewart, and Gunn’s team cast him off it. NEXT → 05 James Gunn has repeatedly pitched Lanterns as a grounded, small-town murder-mystery thriller — where the space-cop rings are secondary to a detective case on Earth. Which acclaimed HBO series is his go-to tonal comparison? ATrue Detective BThe Wire CWestworld DWatchmen ✓ Correct! Gunn has explicitly called Lanterns his “True Detective in the DCU” — a slow-burn, atmospheric, character-driven case with superhero elements layered over a grounded murder mystery. Showrunner Chris Mundy actually did True Detective: Night Country duties, bringing that DNA directly. Watchmen (Damon Lindelof) was also cited, and Lindelof has consulting writer credits, but True Detective is the primary comp. ✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is True Detective. Gunn has named it as the explicit tonal blueprint — a slow-burn, character-driven murder mystery with superhero elements layered over it. Chris Mundy, the show’s runner, worked on True Detective: Night Country, bringing the DNA directly. Watchmen was a secondary comp (Damon Lindelof consults), but True Detective is the primary pitch. NEXT → 06 When James Gunn and Peter Safran took over as DC Studios co-CEOs in 2022, they announced a rebooted slate of interconnected films and TV shows — with Lanterns among the launch titles. What is this first DCU phase officially called? AChapter 1: Gods and Monsters BCrisis on Infinite Earths CThe Flashpoint Initiative DDark Knights Rising ✓ Correct! Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters — announced in January 2023 as the Gunn/Safran DCU’s opening slate. It includes Superman (2025), The Authority, Supergirl, The Brave and the Bold, Paradise Lost, Waller, Creature Commandos, and of course Lanterns. Crisis on Infinite Earths is a comics event; Flashpoint and Dark Knights are other DC storylines, not the chapter branding. ✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters. Crisis on Infinite Earths is a famous DC comics crossover event (and Arrowverse crossover) but not a DCU chapter label. Flashpoint was referenced in The Flash (2023) from the now-defunct DCEU. The Gunn/Safran era officially named its launch phase Gods and Monsters — Superman 2025, Lanterns, and related titles. NEXT → 07 Green Lanterns serve the Guardians of the Universe, an ancient race who created the Corps’ 3,600-sector peacekeeping force and charge the Lantern rings from a central Power Battery on their home planet. What is the Guardians’ homeworld called? AKrypton BOa CThemyscira DApokolips ✓ Correct! Oa — the small blue-skinned Guardians’ home at the centre of the universe. It houses the Central Power Battery from which all Green Lantern rings draw their energy, and serves as the Corps’ academy and operational base. Krypton is Superman’s destroyed homeworld; Themyscira is Wonder Woman’s hidden Amazon island; Apokolips is Darkseid’s hellscape. ✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is Oa. Krypton is Superman’s homeworld. Themyscira is Paradise Island where Wonder Woman was raised. Apokolips is Darkseid’s grim world in the Fourth World mythos. Oa is specifically the Guardians of the Universe’s planet — home to the Central Power Battery that fuels every Green Lantern ring in all 3,600 sectors. NEXT → 08 Every Green Lantern recites the same oath when charging their ring — a four-line rhyming incantation that’s become one of the most famous pieces of verse in comic-book history. How does it famously begin? A“In the darkest hour, a light shall rise...” B“In brightest day, in blackest night...” C“By the power of Oa, I serve...” D“Ring of willpower, heed my call...” ✓ Correct! “In brightest day, in blackest night / No evil shall escape my sight / Let those who worship evil’s might / Beware my power — Green Lantern’s light!” The oath dates back to 1940’s All-American Comics #16, was refined through the Silver Age, and is considered one of DC’s most sacred bits of verse. Every canonical adaptation includes some version of it. ✗ Ring malfunction! The answer is “In brightest day, in blackest night...” The full oath: “No evil shall escape my sight / Let those who worship evil’s might / Beware my power — Green Lantern’s light!” It’s been canon since 1940 and remains one of comics’ most instantly recognisable pieces of verse — recited in every major Green Lantern adaptation. REVEAL MY SCORE → Ring Depowered · Report to Oa Your Corps Rank 💍 / 8 Honor Guard veteran — or still in Corps training? ⤴ RECHARGE RING At the start of this encounter, we briefly see her true form as one of the Guardians from behind: tall, blue skin, white hair, and wearing red, resembling how the Guardians are depicted in the comics (save for the height difference). On the page, the Guardians are typically smaller than humans, about half their height. Sure enough, we later see this same Guardian interviewing John Stewart in 2016, ultimately giving him the job to train and become Hal Jordan's eventual replacement, though Jordan would be led to believe that Stewart would simply be a backup (mirroring his initial recruitment in the comics as a reserve Lantern). By the episode's end, we actually learn quite a bit more about the Guardians in the DCU. Everything We Know About "The Big Blue Bosses" So Far Lanterns episode 3 confirms several key details about the DCU's Guardians of the Universe. Firstly, we now know there were originally 12 of them before Sinestro killed one of them during his failed coup, resulting in his arrest after being defeated by Hal Jordan himself. Secondly, it was this loss of one of their own that led to the Guardians changing their established selection process for new Lantern recruits in 2016. Rather than a deceased Green Lantern's power ring immediately seeking out a recruit in the vicinity possessing the ability to overcome great fear, the Guardians are seemingly now interviewing candidates themselves, such as in John Stewart's case. We also learn that the Guardians are concerned about Hal Jordan's relationship with Sinestro, even after Jordan brought him in. This is because it was Sinestro who trained Hal, having served as a mentor/father figure. Additionally, it was revealed in previous episodes that the Guardians were responsible for ridding the galaxy of the Manhunters, a force of shapeshifting lethal androids seeking to deliver "justice" by committing planetary genocides (though one Manhunter is seemingly hiding on Earth in 2016). In the comics, the Guardians created the Manhunters as their original peacekeeping force. This was before they founded the Green Lantern Corps, as the Manhunters eventually went rogue, seeking to end all life in the universe in the name of achieving peace. Perhaps most importantly, Hal Jordan revealed in Lanterns episode 1 that the Guardians apparently never wanted any Green Lanterns visiting Earth, let alone any humans becoming Green Lanterns themselves, suggesting a hidden significance for Earth. While it could just be Abin Sur's demise and the secret Manhunter, perhaps an even bigger mystery will be revealed down the line. There's Something Quite Not Right About The DCU's Guardians Despite all of these reveals about the Guardians of the Universe in the new DCU, something still feels pretty off. Changing the classic recruitment system from the comics feels very strange, as does their concern over Hal Jordan. Are they really just worried about Hal's lingering loyalties to Sinestro, or are they also worried about what Sinestro knows? Clearly, the incarcerated Sinestro knows something about John Stewart and the Guardians' true agenda for Hal Jordan, having told Hal that a Manhunter is only the second-biggest threat he's facing. Beyond the height difference being somewhat odd, there's also a moment where Laura Linney's Guardian uses the term "programming" when talking about John Stewart's unorthodox upbringing and how he was relentlessly trained to be without fear by his parents since he was five years old. At least in my mind, that wording feels like a red flag that not everything is on the up and up. Is Laura Linney's Guardian secretly a Manhunter? Is she a rogue Guardian? Are the Manhunters trying to co-opt the next Green Lanterns against the Guardians themselves, or have the Guardians all become corrupt as a governing body and want the next generation of Lanterns to be improved Manhunters? Perhaps they're now looking for the unquestionable loyalty and obedience they wanted with the Green Lantern Corps' robotic predecessors. For the time being, there are far more questions than answers when it comes to the Guardians, and that's incredibly exciting. After all, there are still plenty more episodes of Lanterns left to get those questions answered before the season ends. At any rate, it's absolutely fascinating to learn more about the Guardians of the Universe and their authority over the cosmos. While it's hard to say whether they'll become adversaries by the end of Lanterns season 1, it's clear that we've just been introduced to one of the most important and powerful groups in the entire DCU thus far. New episodes of Lanterns release Sunday nights on HBO Max from DC Studios. Release Date August 16, 2026 Network HBO Showrunner Chris Mundy Cast Aaron Pierre John Stewart A modern Green Lantern update, Lanterns sees intergalactic law enforcers John Stewart and Hal Jordan unite, defending Earth while they investigate a murder mystery set in the American heartland. Directors James Hawes Writers Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof Franchise(s) DC Universe Main Genre Sci-Fi Creator(s) Tom King, Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof Executive Producer(s) James Gunn, Peter Safran, Ron Schmidt, Damon Lindelof, James Hawes, Chris Mundy, Tom King Producers Breannah Gibson Seasons 1 Release Window 2026