DC is now searching for a new actor to wear the power ring in ‘Lanterns.’
At least one rumor about HBO’s Green Lantern series is true: Josh Brolin was offered a lead role but turned it down, as confirmed by sources.
Over the past week, several reports said Brolin was asked to play Hal Jordan, one of the two main characters in the show, Lanterns. The Hollywood Reporter first shared the news that Brolin declined the role.
Advertisement Lanterns, part of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s connected DC universe of movies and shows, will follow Hal Jordan and John Stewart. In the comics, Hal was a test pilot who became the first human Green Lantern. Green Lanterns are space cops who protect the universe with their powerful rings. Hal’s job was to guard Earth.
John is a former architect and U.S. Marine Corps veteran. He became well-known and loved Green Lantern, especially after appearing in the animated Justice League and Justice League: Unlimited cartoons, which made him even more popular over time.
The HBO series has eight episodes and shows John as a new Green Lantern recruit, while Hal is seen as a legendary figure among them. The show is like a police drama with superheroes: They get involved in a dark mystery on Earth as they investigate a murder in the American Midwest, according to the official description.
When Gunn first announced Lanterns in January 2023, as part of the first phase of DC’s superhero movies and shows called Gods and Monsters, he compared it to True Detective. He said:
“We have a few other Lanterns in the show, but it’s really like a detective story on Earth with Green Lanterns as space cops watching over our planet.”
He also mentioned that the mystery in the story connects to the bigger DC universe.
See More: DCU Fans React to Josh Brolin’s Rumored Green Lantern Casting, Offer ‘Better’ Alternatives
Chris Mundy, who worked on HBO’s True Detective: Night Country, is the showrunner and executive producer for Lanterns. Damon Lindelof, known for HBO’s Watchmen, and Tom King, a famous DC comic creator, co-wrote the show with Mundy. Lindelof and King are also executive producers.
“John Stewart and Hal Jordan are two of DC’s most interesting characters, and Lanterns brings them to life in a new detective story. This show is a key part of the connected DC universe we’re starting next summer with Superman,”
Gunn and Safran said in a statement.
Gods and Monsters start this year with the animated series Creature Commandos in December. Before Brolin’s Hal Jordan, people will see a different Green Lantern. Nathan Fillion will play Guy Gardner, another human Lantern from Earth, in the movie Superman, directed and written by Gunn, coming to theaters on July 11, 2025.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter