Kyle Chandler to Star in HBO’s ‘Lanterns’ Series

HBO‘s DC series Lanterns has found its Hal Jordan.

Emmy winner Kyle Chandler is set to play the legendary member of the Green Lantern Corps in the series, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter. The show will be the first series role for the Friday Night Lights star since Showtime’s 2022 drama Super Pumped.

Lanterns, which scored a straight-to-series order in June after years of development, comes from Chris Mundy (Ozark), Damon Lindelof (Watchmen, Lost) and Eisner Award-winning comics writer Tom King. The trio are co-writing and executive producing the series, with Mundy serving as showrunner.

The show, which falls under the HBO banner, is casting and in the middle of hiring directors. The series is looking to shoot from next January to June in Atlanta.

Lanterns is described as having a gritty, True Detective vibe as it focuses on Jordan reluctantly mentoring a younger Lantern, John Stewart, who in DC publishing history was one of the company’s first Black superheroes. The story sees the two characters investigating an Earth-bound murder with larger implications. Sources say that DC and the producers are looking for a young, more fresh-faced actor for the role to play opposite an older and bigger name.

DC initially was looking for a movie star to take on the Jordan role and had been in talks with Josh Brolin, who ultimately passed. And while rumors abounded that actors such as Chris Pine or Ewan McGregor were next on the list, that turned out to be mostly wishful thinking.

HBO declined to comment.

Chandler became a name thanks to his Emmy-winning turn as Coach Eric Taylor in the beloved Friday Night Lights television series that aired on NBC from 2006 to 2011. He returned to series work with the Netflix thriller Bloodline, which earned him two Emmy nominations. In recent years he has popped up in movies big and small, among them Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Godzilla vs. Kong as well as Damien Chazelle’s Neil Armstrong biopic First Man.

He is repped by Gersh and Brillstein Entertainment Partners.