[This story contains major spoilers for Lanterns’ “Pilot.”]

When James Gunn and Peter Safran took the reins at DC Studios in 2022, one of their core tenets was ensuring that the writers and directors shaping their interconnected universe would not be beholden to a house style.

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So far, however, the live-action sample size for DCU projects not helmed by Gunn himself has mainly been limited to Craig Gillespie’s Supergirl. The second DC universe film contains many tonal and thematic hallmarks from Gillespie’s body of work, particularly the trauma-scarred outsiders of I, Tonya, Cruella and Lars and the Real Girl. The rub, though, is that his existing sensibility overlapped so closely with Gunn’s that many viewers treated Kara Zor-El’s cosmic journey as an extension of the more familiar filmmaker/studio head.

But thanks to Chris Mundy’s Lanterns, that initial promise of empowering creatives to bring their own distinct voices to the DCU has now been realized beyond dispute. Alongside co-creators Damon Lindelof and Tom King, Mundy, inspired by King’s True Detective-style pitch, took the mythology of the intergalactic peacekeepers known as the Green Lantern Corps and grounded it in an earthy, character-driven drama series.

The eight-episode first season chronicles Kyle Chandler’s Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, and Aaron Pierre’s trainee, John Stewart, as they investigate a small Nebraska town following the murder of four undercover aliens during a high school football game. The pilot’s shocking twist is that Jordan was also found dead at the same field ten years later in 2026.

The final product has recognizable traits of True Detective’s multi-timeline murder-mystery format, as well as Banshee, Training Day and Reacher. But it also shares DNA with the writers’ other notable projects such as Mundy’s Ozark and Lindelof’s Watchmen, The Leftovers and Lost. King’s decorated résumé in comics is equally evident to the initiated. 

Mundy, who serves as showrunner, says Gunn mostly left him and his team to their own devices during development, nor did he require a bridge to aid the appearance of Stewart in his Superman (2025)follow-up, Man of Tomorrow.

“At the very beginning, James was off doing Superman. He was in the trenches. So while he would come in for high-level stuff, there was a fair amount of trust that he was gracious enough to give us,” Mundy tells The Hollywood Reporter. “We knew we were putting John on his feet, but there wasn’t an actual story point that we had to land him on. We weren’t shoehorned into anything at all.”

Lanterns may have just premiered, but Mundy is already mapping out a potential season two story with Halt and Catch Fire co-creator Christopher Cantwell. (Lindelof and King are busy leading their respective new series, The Chain and Mister Miracle.) While Lanterns season two has not been officially green-lit, Mundy and Cantwell are getting their ducks in a row should the audience reception and viewership numbers match the critics’ enthusiasm for the down-to-earth take on Green Lanterns.

“We feel good that we told the story in season one well. The question is whether [season two] is a story people are interested in. If that’s the case, then we’ll get to do another one. We’ll tell it in a slightly different way, so that it feels fresh, with characters you know and care about,” Mundy shares. “We’re about six weeks into laying out a season, and then we’ll talk to folks about it really soon.

Below, during a conversation with THR, Mundy also discusses how his previous series with Chandler, Bloodline, factored into Lanterns. 

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So Tom King came up with the initial pitch, you were then recruited to flesh it out as showrunner — and then Tom and Damon served as your rhythm section, especially for the comic book elements. Is that an accurate summation of your collaboration?

Yeah, a little bit. Tom basically had the 30,000-foot view: “What if you did Green Lanterns True Detective-ish?” But it was less that they were less my rhythm section and more that we were a pretty equal band. We also had three other writers who were hugely influential in everything we did. Knowing that we wanted to do something earthbound, we set it in Rushville, Nebraska, and Tom actually has family [his grandmother] that’s from there. I’m also from [Omaha] Nebraska, and both my parents grew up in small towns. So I was like, “Oh, I know that,” and then we were off to the races right away.

It’s rare to work with a co-studio head who is also a writer-director himself. So how would you describe your dynamic with James Gunn?

It was great in that you know he knows writing and what it’s like to be on a set. He just understands it all. At the very beginning, James was off doing Superman. He was in the thick of it, and he was in the trenches. So while he would come in for high-level stuff, there was a fair amount of trust that he was gracious enough to give us as he was making his gigantic movie.

John Stewart is going to be in the Superman follow-up, Man of Tomorrow, but James never asked you to set the stage by leaving him at a bus stop in Omaha? 

(Laughs.) No, we were really lucky in that way. We knew we were putting John on his feet, but there wasn’t an actual story point that we had to land him on. In one way, it makes it scarier because it could be anything, but at the same time, we weren’t shoehorned into anything at all.

The end of the pilot jumps from the primary timeline of 2016 to 2026. John returns to Rushville to find Hal dead at the same football field where their 2016 murder investigation took place. Considering Kyle was killed off in the pilot of Mayor of Kingstown not too long ago, did he have some initial reservations until he heard the grand plan?

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No, what’s so funny is that this is the first time that’s ever come up. Kyle never mentioned [Mayor of Kingstown] or any concern. [Hal’s death] was baked into what we were doing from the beginning, and it was just always part of what we were going to be doing. And Kyle knew. There’s a real freedom in that because we were all on the same page. 

Sometimes, you’re going along, and then, all of a sudden, you’re five episodes in when a character is killed. And you’re like, “Oh, I’ve got to make a phone call to tell this actor what’s going to happen.” With all the actors, I always say, “I’ll tell you as much or as little as you want to know.” Some people want to know everything that’s going to happen, and some just want to learn little bits at a time as the scripts come out. And to me, whatever is good for their process is good for the show.

I joked with Kyle that you Danny Rayburn’d him à la Bloodline. You established the death in the pilot, and now the rest of the season will catch the audience up to speed. 

(Laughs.) That’s totally right. I actually wrote on the second season of Bloodline. Kyle was always shooting down in Florida, and the writers were always in L.A. So the first time we talked about Lanterns, I was like, “We’ve worked together before — but across the country from each other.”

I read that you based Hal Jordan on Sam Shepard’s Chuck Yeager in The Right Stuff. Sam played Kyle’s dad on Bloodline, so I figured that would’ve factored into his commitment to play Hal. But Kyle said it had no bearing whatsoever. 

I never really factored the Sam Shepard of it all either. I love [The Right Stuff], and I love his portrayal of Chuck Yeager. But when we talked about Chuck Yeager as a model for Hal, I always pictured the actual Chuck Yeager, not Sam Shepard’s version of him. I could just see Kyle in that jacket and in those places. Chuck Yeager had a vibe of self-confidence and a certain Americana that feels very Hal, and Kyle also has that in spades.

Rebel Ridge came out in the middle of Aaron Pierre’s audition process for John Stewart, and he earned raves for his performance. Did that buzz in the air influence your decision at all? 

I don’t think it influenced his casting. His name had come up already. Alexa Fogel, who’s our amazing casting director, had brought him up before Rebel Ridge came out. She did say, “Oh, this movie is going to come out.” She’d also seen him on stage, but we still just needed to know if he could do this job. An actor can be great in one role, but not right for another role. It just happens.

Knowing that Rebel Ridge lives and dies on Aaron — and that he’s so eminently watchable — I’m sure, subconsciously, there was a part of us that was like, Oh, that’s a relief. If it’s him [as John], you’re going to watch that dude do anything. But really, we just thought he had the range.

I know Lanterns is not based on any particular Green Lantern comic, but the conversation around adaptations and source material has been pretty contentious this year. You guys have dealt with bellyaching about creative license, as has The Odyssey and Resident Evil. Why do you think people are so resistant to change when it’s been proven time and time again that no one actually wants more of the same? 

It’s a really good question. It’s probably something that’s been with them their whole lives. If you’re a Green Lantern fan, you’ve probably been a Green Lantern fan since you were a kid. They just hold it a little closer and a little more dear. I think it comes from a really good place, which is, I really care about this thing. Don’t mess it up.

This is just our story for a minute. Five or ten years from now, someone else is going to be the steward of it. If people see that those of us making Lanterns right now really care about it and are taking good care of it, then hopefully they’ll trust us a little bit. But it really is this feeling of, I care about this thing. Don’t break it. And I get that. They’re passionate about it.

You and Halt and Catch Fire co-creator Christopher Cantwell are already working on season two in the event of a green light. The industry is as unpredictable as ever it’s been, but are you feeling confident at this point? 

You have to go forward with total confidence as if it’s going to happen. If it doesn’t happen, you also have to not be heartbroken. You have to just say, “Okay, that’s the way it is.” It’s this bizarre trick or dance that you have to do for yourself. You’ve got to care so much, and then you’ve got to not be crushed if it doesn’t happen. It’s hard.

We feel good that we told the story in season one well. The question is whether [season two] is a story people are interested in. We’ll see. I hope so. If that’s the case, then we’ll get to do another one. We’ll tell it in a slightly different way, so that it feels fresh, with characters you know and care about.

Are you just breaking story right now? You haven’t written any actual scripts?

We’re just in the breaking-story stages. We’re about six weeks into laying out a season, and then we’ll talk to folks about it really soon.

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Lanterns is now airing new episodes on HBO/HBO Max every Sunday until Oct 4.