Nathan Fillion is bringing one of his biggest roles back to the screen in 2026.
From Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly, Fillion's many movie and TV roles include sci-fi and fantasy genres, and he is not leaving those worlds anytime soon. After having worked with James Gunn on multiple projects, including the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, the Castle and The Rookie lead has also been part of the DC Universe since 2025's Superman.
Fillion's Guy Gardner is returning this year through DC Studios' Lanterns, which premiered on August 16 on HBO, while also becoming available on HBO Max. It didn't take long for the Green Lantern-centric series to become the #1 title on Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming platform in the United States.
The Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre-starring drama has also climbed to #1 on HBO Max worldwide following the premiere. The DCU entry is currently holding the top spot on the HBO-branded platform in Romania, Taiwan, Singapore, Bahamas, Philippines, Finland, Hungary, Moldova, Hong-Kong, Germany, Malaysia, Indonesia, Haiti, France, Denmark, Croatia, Bulgaria, Belize, and Australia.
The success doesn't stop there, as the global success has brought the DC title to #2 on HBO Max. Created by Chris Mundy, Tom King, and Damon Lindelof, subscribers in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Switzerland, Bolivia, Chile, Netherlands, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Panama, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Salvador, Spain, Uruguay, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic have it at that spot for the Lanterns TV show.
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
⚠Yellow PerilThe fear entity
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?
✓ 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.
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?
✓ 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.
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?
✓ 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.
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?
✓ 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.
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?
✓ 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.
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?
✓ 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.
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?
✓ 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.
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?
✓ 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.
Ring Depowered · Report to Oa Your Corps Rank
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Honor Guard veteran — or still in Corps training?
While being a streaming success, the superhero property has landed a solid critical response with members of the press and viewers. As of writing, Lanterns is holding 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 71 reviews, while the audience score has an 86% rating on the platform.
Lanterns season 1 will mark the third project for Fillion as Guy Gardner in Gunn's superhero franchise, after having appeared in Superman and Peacemaker season 2. Trailers for the HBO drama have shared glimpses of his return, but 2026 won't be the last time the Emerald Knight shows up.
The beloved actor will bring his hero back to theaters in 2027 as part of Gunn's Man of Tomorrow movie, which is currently filming, focusing on Superman and Lex Luthor going up against Brainiac. However, as much as Guy has been used in live-action, Fillion will get to voice him through a major upcoming animated property.
King, who worked on Lanterns, will officially bring him over to the Mister Miracle series, which is currently in development. While a premiere date has yet to be announced, it will mark Fillion's fifth DCU project for DC Studios. The actor recently shared with ScreenRant's Ash Crossan what he loves about being the hero that is most used in movies and TV shows throughout Gunn's franchise:
Ash Crossan: I have to start with the honor that you have appeared in the most DCU projects so far. What does that mean to you?
Nathan Fillion: To me, that means there's a chance that maybe I'll continue to be employed throughout my twilight years. That's my hope, at least.
Ash Crossan: Why do you think Guy Gardner is the connective tissue in the DCU?
Nathan Fillion: I like the idea that he is the connective tissue. He's the thread that weaves throughout the fabric of this universe. If you're existing, if you're a character in this universe, if you're watching this universe, he's in the back there somewhere. If you live in the DC Universe, you're gonna you're gonna be inundated with this guy… See what he did there?
But why is he the guy? Listen, I think if we're just kind of logically thinking it out, I think Guy Gardner is someone who embraces marketing. I think he understands the importance of a brand, the brand for LordTech, the brand of the Justice Gang, the brand of Green Lanterns, the brand that is Guy Gardner.
I think he is wary. I think he has a social media presence. I think he understands TikTok trends. I think he's got his finger on the pulse. He has financial goals. He wants to open a bar. He wants to do things, and his appearance, how he's perceived, that's important to him. So I think he's out there in the public eye. I think maybe that might be one of the reasons he exists across the projects he exists.
Lanterns release new episodes on Sundays at 9 PM on HBO and HBO Max.
