Lanterns Already Revealed How Hal Jordan Can Return

Published Oct 15, 2026, 4:31 PM EDT Sean is a senior writer for ScreenRant and has been writing about new TV releases since December 2023. He has received multiple advance screenings of popular shows and ideated his own coverage read by hundreds of thousands of readers. Sean is a self-published author of a Western novel. Sean has also written award-winning opinion pieces related to local politics while getting his Bachelor's degree in journalism. Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Lanterns season 1, episode 8.Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan may have died, but Lanterns has already laid the groundwork for his potential return. The ending of Lanterns season 1 confirmed that Hal Jordan died by Sheriff Kerry Kane's hand, and it heavily implied that the beloved Green Lantern is gone for good. Aaron Pierre's John Stewart has taken on the role as Earth's main Green Lantern, even banishing Guy Gardner to space, and there doesn't seem to be room for Hal anymore. The idea that John is replacing Hal is even supported in the real world. John Stewart is confirmed to appear in Man of Tomorrow, the Superman sequel, as the DCU's main Green Lantern, and the finale of Lanterns gave Hal a touching farewell. With Lanterns season 2 still unconfirmed as well, there don't seem to be any immediate plans to bring Kyle Chandler back. While it doesn't look like there's a chance Hal Jordan could return in the future of the DCU, Lanterns has actually set the stage for either him or his "Halogram" to return. Lanterns itself introduced a few ways Hal could live on after being shot in the head, and the Green Lantern comics also have plenty of loopholes to get around his premature death. Nothing is confirmed yet, but Hal Jordan could still appear in upcoming DCU movies or shows. Sinestro Claimed He Could Revive Hal Using The Ring The first and most straightforward way Lanterns set up Hal Jordan's possible return is through his old mentor, Sinestro. In the finale of Lanterns season 1, just after he gave John the new Lantern that he forged, Sinestro told the Halogram that he could "bring him back to life, for real," as long as they had Hal's ring. Sinestro didn't go into the specifics of how that worked, but it's safe to assume the Halogram itself played into his plans. As the Halogram itself mentioned early on in the season, it's a complete copy of Hal Jordan's consciousness, albeit from 2006, 20 years before he died. Sinestro presumably has some way to get a body, either by creating one or stealing one from a living being, and a method to transfer the backup of Hal's consciousness stored in the ring into said body. Sinestro is still chained up on Antaan's homeworld, and John can still access him through Noah's portal, so there might still be a way for the two to resurrect Hal. Sinestro's plan, like every other plan, has some major flaws and drawbacks. Firstly, there's a very good chance Sinestro was lying and that he can't actually bring Hal back to life. Sinestro revealed this information right after being tortured by John, and right before trying to manipulate John into not trusting the Halogram. He would have said anything that gave him a chance of killing John and escaping to freedom. It's not a guarantee that he's lying, but Sinestro is hardly trustworthy. Secondly, John recharged the ring at the end of Lanterns season 1. Sinestro claimed recharging the ring would overwrite the Halogram, and there's no guarantee Sinestro could revive Hal without it. There's a chance he was also lying about that, but based on the fact that the Halogram disappeared after giving John an emotional farewell, it seems like he was telling the truth. John may have thrown away his only chance at using Sinestro to revive Hal. The Manhunter Technology Revived Hal Once & Could Be Used Again Another avenue Lanterns gave itself for reviving Hal is through the Manhunter technology. As proven on two separate occasions, when both John and Hal were nearly burned alive, the Manhunter tech is capable of printing new organic material and saving a person's life from near-guaranteed death. Hal was revived by the Manhunter technology once, and Noah could conceivably revive him again. Mysterious as the Manhunter tech is, Lanterns did reveal a bit about how it works. Based on the scar on both Hal and John's triceps, it needs a sample of genetic material from a patient to print healthy new tissue. Hal's body may be dead, but it's almost entirely intact. Noah could easily get a sample just by digging him up again. John's decision to let him choose his own destiny should also make Noah more willing to help him and revive Hal. The problem with using the Manhunter technology is that Lanterns hasn't actually shown that it would work. Every time the Manhunter tech was used, it was used on a living person. Additionally, if the technology was capable of bringing someone back from the dead, Noah could have used it to revive Zoe. It's not clear if he would have done that or if he knew how to at the time, but this all seems like evidence that Hal may not be able to come back thanks to the Manhunter tech. Hal Could Continue Appearing As The Halogram Image via MovieStillsDB The simplest way for Lanterns and the DCU to keep Kyle Chandler around as Hal Jordan actually wouldn't involve reviving him at all. Hal could essentially live on as the Halogram, a copy of his earlier consciousness. After all, the Halogram had no problem appearing to John after the real Hal had died. His consciousness is stored in the ring, and he could simply continue appearing to John in the future. Keeping Kyle Chandler in the DCU as the Halogram may actually be the perfect compromise from a real-world perspective. Chandler is 61 years old now, a bit too old to be the main Green Lantern of the DCU and perform all the stunts expected of younger actors like Aaron Pierre or David Corenswet. The Halogram would let Chandler continue playing a role he was born to play indefinitely. He wouldn't have to do any stunts, just lend his personality and wisdom to John as he figures out the ropes of being Green Lantern. There's also evidence that Sinestro may have been lying about John overwriting the Halogram. The very fact that the Halogram is from 2006 is proof that the wearer has to intentionally decide to upload their consciousness as a backup. If it happened automatically every time the ring was charged, the Halogram would have been from 2016, not 2006. That means John hasn't necessarily overwritten the Halogram yet. On top of that, since he's not an official Green Lantern, he doesn't have to back up his own consciousness unless he wants to. John also has a very good reason to not overwrite the Halogram. Since he's an "independent contractor," neither Guy Gardner nor the Guardians of Oa are going to teach him how to be a Green Lantern. John may decide to keep the Halogram around just to help him figure things out and actually teach him how to use the ring. Plus, John and the Halogram established a good rapport that was bordering on friendship by the end of Lanterns; he may keep the Halogram around out of pure sentimentality. Lanterns Season 2 Could Take Inspiration From The Comics Lanterns season 2 and beyond can also look beyond the borders of the show itself for inspiration on how to bring Hal Jordan back. Though these avenues of revival weren't set up in the show, DC and the Green Lantern comics are notorious for reviving dead characters. Over the decades, there have been dozens of loopholes and tricks to revive dead characters, and Lanterns could use those comics as a blueprint. Of the two main comics Lanterns could draw from, one is more feasible than the other. In the comics, Hal Jordan was famously possessed by Parallax, the DC universe's personification of fear and the power source of the Yellow Lanterns and Sinestro Corps. While Parallax didn't revive Hal in the comics, there's nothing to say he couldn't do it in the DCU. After Sinestro finds the Yellow Lanterns, he could convince Parallax to use Hal's body as a vessel. After the dust all settles and Parallax is defeated, Lanterns could simply keep Hal alive. Another option is to look to the Blackest Day storyline. The Green Lantern villain Black Hand established the Black Lantern Corps, which had power over death. The Black Lanterns themselves could bring anyone back from the dead, and the DCU could adapt that story to bring Hal back. Additionally, the Black Lanterns were eventually defeated by the life power of the White Lanterns, which is yet another way Hal could return from the dead. Given how far Lanterns strayed from established Green Lantern comics, these two methods don't seem particularly likely for Lanterns season 2. Still, there's no guarantee that a John Stewart movie or another DC project won't look to them for inspiration. In short, if Lanterns and the DCU want to bring Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan back, they have many options to choose from, both in the show and in the comics. Release Date August 16, 2026 Network HBO Showrunner Chris Mundy Cast Aaron Pierre John Stewart Directors Alik Sakharov, James Hawes, Stephen Williams, Geeta Patel Writers Damon Lindelof, Chris Mundy, Tom King, Vanessa Baden Kelly, Justin Britt-Gibson, Breannah Gibson Franchise(s) DC Universe Creator(s) Tom King, Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof