HBO’s ‘Lanterns’ Just Achieved Something No Other DCU Show Has Managed to Do

DC Studios has had a genuinely mixed track record throughout its rebuild under James Gunn and Peter Safran, with some projects landing exactly as intended and others struggling to find their footing with critics and audiences alike. Against that uneven backdrop, expectations for this newest entry were cautiously optimistic at best heading into its debut.

What’s unfolded since has completely rewritten those expectations, turning what many assumed would be a modest addition to the DCU into something genuinely unprecedented for the franchise.

‘Lanterns‘ keeps climbing, and it’s now the number one series on Rotten Tomatoes and the number one title overall on IMDb. According to Yardbarker, the HBO detective series claimed the top spot on IMDb’s Most Popular TV Shows chart with an 8.0 rating as of August 24, surpassing both ‘Reacher’ and ‘Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War’ in the process.

The show’s critical reception has been just as staggering. Comic Basics reports that ‘Lanterns’ has climbed to a 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes, officially making it the highest-rated project across the entire DC Universe, surpassing ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2 at 94%, ‘Creature Commandos’ at 93%, ‘Superman’ at 83%, and ‘Supergirl’ at 52%. That score has climbed rapidly since its release, jumping from an initial 89% when the review embargo lifted to 91% before the premiere, before continuing to rise as more reviews rolled in.

Starring Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre as John Stewart, the series follows the pair of intergalactic Green Lanterns as they investigate a murder in the American heartland, drawing comparisons to prestige dramas like ‘True Detective’ for its grounded, earthbound approach. That tonal choice proved divisive during the marketing rollout, with some viewers initially worried the trailers leaned too gray and understated for a franchise built around glowing rings.

Those concerns evaporated quickly once the show actually premiered. Geek Vibes Nation reported the series opened to a 92% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, with the bulk of viewer reviews awarding perfect five-star ratings, closely mirroring the enthusiasm already building among critics.

Notably, ‘Lanterns’ also represents a meaningful departure for the DCU behind the scenes, marking only the second project entirely free of James Gunn’s direct writing or directing involvement, following the disappointing critical and commercial reception of ‘Supergirl.’ Chris Mundy serves as showrunner, working alongside Damon Lindelof, whose previous credits on ‘Watchmen’ and ‘The Leftovers’ brought a proven pedigree in prestige genre storytelling to the project.

With reviews currently based on the first several episodes of its eight-episode run, and new installments continuing to roll out weekly through an October 4 finale, ‘Lanterns’ still has plenty of story left to tell before its final verdict is locked in. Given how dramatically it’s already outpaced every other DCU title on both critical and popularity metrics, though, this detective-driven take on Green Lantern lore looks poised to remain one of the year’s biggest surprise successes.

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