Lanterns, the next live-action TV show for the Gunn/Safran DC era, released its first trailer. Following two members of the galactic peacekeeping/police force the Green Lanterns, the show explores what happens when two human lanterns find a training exercise going very, very south. The show looks to draw as much from True Detective as it does the comics and there’s a lot to get excited about in the trailer. Here’s what Alasdair Stuart found.

Hal Jordan

The iconic Lantern, a former test pilot and one of Earth’s most renowned heroes. Played by Kyle Chandler, beloved in these parts for his work in Friday Night Lights, Hal is training his replacement and is not happy about that. I love the Men in Black energy the two have as a result.

John Stewart

Former marine and qualified architect, John Stewart is one of the calmest, most focused and intense of Earth’s numerous Green Lanterns. He’s a great character and Aaron Pierre is a stunning choice. Softly spoken and able to seethe like no one on Earth, Pierre is the star of Rebel Ridge on Netflix. Run, do not walk, to go see that if you haven’t. It’s stunning.

0.01 – ‘With all due respect…’

I love that the relationship between the two guys is in place from second 1, and that relationship is Not Friendly.

0.08 – The Ring

Our first close look at the ring. I love how complex the mineral patterning is and how it subtly ties the ring to the lantern/battery we see later. Same material, just different uses for it.

0.13 – ‘You’re just a fuckin’ substitute teacher’

Hal Jordan, everyone. What’s interesting is that Kyle Chandler’s character seems to be written far shlubbier and nearer burnout than Hal usually is. But at one point in the comics, he did go mad and try and restart the universe, so the bad hair day is understandable.

0.21 – ‘But alright’

This glorious ‘screw you’ moment is the first thing we saw and it works even better now we know he puts the ring on the dash before he does it. I also love how Aaron Pierre sells the ‘what th-NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!’ reaction.

0.28 – The ‘Am I going to beat this old man’s ass now, or later?’ look

This made me laugh so hard. Pierre is an incredibly expressive actor and I love that he walks up on Hal clearly thinking ‘He’s going to give me a good explanation, because I know he’s got one and then I’m probably punching him in the face anyway’.

0.40 – Town meeting

Green Lanterns traditionally have a weakness to yellow. This is because, in the comics, the central power battery that the others draw from contains a being called Parallax who is the living embodiment of fear. He’s imprisoned in there by the Guardians, the aliens who form the corps and every time a power ring is used, a small amount of Parallax is drawn out with it. Over time he erodes the confidence of the lanterns, and because Parallax is a being made of yellow energy, that’s most pronounced when yellow objects are concerned. Also Hal was briefly Parallax in the comics but is better now.

There’s a lot more to it than that, with different Lanterns dealing with doubt differently and all their relationships to it changing over their careers. But the preponderance of yellow in the town scenes, starting with the filter we seem to see here, can’t be accidental.

0.43 – Kelly McDonald!

I love Kelly McDonald’s work. You’ll have seen her most recently in the excellent Department Q and she’s best known for pivotal roles in both Trainspotting and T2. She’s great and I’m thrilled to see her in this.

0.48 – Mysterious standoff

Hal facing off with some goons in a diner. Note the broken plates and the guy on the floor.

0.52 – Mass Casualties

Look at the body bags on the ground. Look at the clusters of cheerleaders and football players and the emergency vehicles. Something awful happened here.

0.56 – Spent Brass

Large calibre shell chasings on gravel. This tells us three things. Firstly, someone human is firing what I’d guess by eyeball is a .50 calibre machine gun in an urban environment. Secondly that they were active a while given the shells are visible out past the blur line. Thirdly that they’re amateurs given they left the shell casings behind.

0.57 – Hal rings up

It’s subtle but you see Hal putting the ring on here.

1.00 – Impact crater

This is the first of three craters we see, all of them seemingly caused by something hitting the ground from above. What’s interesting about this one is the ‘M’ monogram on the gate, the half motto, with the half we can see being ‘Study the past’  and the water tower further out that’s also totalled. I’m guessing Hal and or John are shot down at various points. Or there are flying villains we’ve not seen yet.

1.00 – ‘This is a stupid plan.’ ‘It gets stupider.’ ‘That I don’t doubt’.

There’s my boys! The combination of ‘THIS ASSHOLE’ and ‘…But I do kind of like him’ is adorable.

1.05 – Uniform!

Green Lantern uniform! Loosely similar to what we see Guy wearing in Superman too.

1.08 – Second aerial crater

Again, a lot of yellow explicit colouring in these shots especially.

1.13 – ‘And we both know I do a better job of this than you.’

This whole speech is at the football game. Could this be the moment John steps up?

1.18 – Blood on the field

The more I think about it the more this seems to be a human/human crime. The blood on the football field, the shells we see elsewhere? All seem to point that way.

1.24 – Garret Dillahunt!

We only see him briefly, but this is one of my favourite actors. Garret Dillahunt is a brilliant comedian and a terrifying villain and can do everything in between. If you’ve never seen him before check out Raising Hope. The Sarah Connor Chronicles or Fear the Walking Dead. Wildly different roles and he’s great in all of them.

1.26 – Same thugs capture John

This goes by in a flash but the guys carrying John into a room are the same thugs Hal faces off with in the diner.

1.31 – Killing floor

Another brief shot but this is the Lanterns stepping into what seems to be an abattoir or killing floor.

1.32 – Driveby

Is this where the shells come from? And is it connected to the explosion that follows immediately after?

1.35 – Skyjumper

The outline looks a lot like John to me and we know he’s a veteran,

1.38 – Hal flies

This is from the scene immediately after the car crash. I love that he just jumps and keeps going.

1.40 – Lantern

Our first look at the lantern. I love that it’s small, and that it connects so strongly visually to the rings.

1.46

We get a lot of stuff in a short space here. I see someone falling from an internal height, John being tortured by an alien looking gun powered by yellow energy and a possibly wounded Hal

1.54 – Hal beats a suspect

Without context, this looks like police brutality. My guess is it’s going to look like that with context too. Here’s hoping not.

2.02 – ‘I’m the only human.’

This fascinates me! Not just because it’s the first time we see John laugh but because Guy is right there! He’s in the show! It’s been confirmed! God they must HATE one another. I can’t wait to see it.

 

Lanterns starts in August and we can’t wait.

Posted on 0 By PS News Posted in News Tagged #
PS's avatar

PS

Leave a comment