For 1990s relaunch Green Lantern #1, artist Pat Broderick aged-up Jordan, giving him white streaks in his hair to match the twinkle in his eye. The older look suited a narrative about Jordan drifting through the American west after the Guardians disbanded the Green Lantern Corps. By the end of that story, Jordan joined with fellow human Lanterns Stewart and Guy Gardner (whom moviegoers met in last summer’s Superman) to take down a mad Guardian who had been stealing cities from various planets, including Earth.
With his dusty leather jacket and salt-and-pepper hair, Chandler fully looks the part of the Jordan from those comics. Even better is the incredible charm he brings to Jordan, even at his cockiest. This version of Jordan has already seen it all and, unlike his fresh-faced partner Stewart, isn’t overwhelmed by the mystery that’s facing them.
Chandler’s calm elevates Lanterns from the generic buddy cop show it initially seems to be. Take the previously leaked scene of Jordan testing Stewart by driving a car off a cliff. Even Martin Riggs at his most loony or Jake Peralta at his most obnoxious wouldn’t attempt something like that, but Jordan treats the act as a reasonable part of training—a point that Stewart apparently concedes when he meets back up with Hal after surviving the incident.
Lanterns certainly takes its cues from grounded police shows, most obviously True Detective. But the trailer never forgets that these are space cops with fantastic powers. Even the few glimpses of Jordan flying and the tease of a construct is more than enough to remind us that he and Stewart are indeed superheroes.
The trailer nails the personalities of its central characters and presents us with a compelling mystery. Even if the show doesn’t culminate with Qwardians, Volthoom, or any other far-out concept from the comics, Lanterns is a Green Lantern show through and through.
Lanterns premieres on HBO Max in August 2026.
