Nathan Fillion To Take Guy Gardner Back To 'Lanterns' After Character Cut In Redevelopment

The casting on the HBO and DC Studios series has truly gotten to the Corps

Sometimes things come back around in pretty good ways. Nathan Fillion is set to reprise his role as Green Lantern Guy Gardner, which he will debut in July’s Superman movie directed by DC Studios co-CEO and longtime friend James Gunn, in the studio’s upcoming HBO drama series Lanterns, which focuses on two other Earth-based Green Lantern Corps members, John Stewart and Hal Jordan, played by Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler.

This is something of a homecoming for the character, because in the earliest stages of the show’s development, Guy Gardner was going to be starring in the series. It was in fact so long ago it and a Strange Adventures series were announced together during the HBO Max WarnerMedia Day Presentation in 2019, which gave investors and viewers a look at what originals to expect from the service when it would originally launch in 2020. Described in October 2020 as exploring a multitude of Lanterns, including Gardner, Jessica Cruz, Simon Baz, Alan Scott, and even completely new Lanterns. In April 2021, the Berlanti Productions-produced series was revealed to be in two settings, primarily narrowing its focus to be on Scott, a secretly gay FBI agent in 1941 who becomes Earth's first Green Lantern; and Gardner in 1984, who here was an “embodiment of 1980s hyper-patriotism”. Finn Wittrock was cast to play Gardner here. In the next year and a half, the Discovery merger shook everything up, including the restructuring of DC Films into what became DC Studios. In October 2022, before Gunn and co-CEO Peter Safran were announced and installed, the series had already headed into redevelopment at the very least toward a Stewart focus, and soon a presence in their new DC Universe. In January 2023, Superman, then known as Superman: Legacy and Lanterns would be announced together as part of the premiere “Gods & Monsters” chapter, and Fillion’s casting as Gardner was announced for Superman that July, fresh off David Corenswet being announced in the title role. Fillion was announced alongside Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl and Edi Gathegi as Mr. Terrific.

Jasmine Cephas Jones To Play Young Bernadette Stewart On HBO, DC Studios’s 'Lanterns'

The actor, currently seven seasons into being John Nolan on ABC’s The Rookie after 8 seasons on the network’s drama Castle, voiced the Hal Jordan Green Lantern in six direct-to-video DC animated films: Green Lantern: Emerald Knights, Justice League: Doom, and then four films in the DC Animated Movie Universe, Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, The Death of Superman and its sequel Reign of the Supermen. His collaborations go as far back through Slither, James Gunn’s PG Porn, and Super, appearing as a prisoner in the first Guardians of the Galaxy and Master Carja in Vol. 3. Gunn brought him to the previous continuity when he directed The Suicide Squad, where he played T.D.K., or The Detachable Kid.

As it stands, Lanterns sees John Stewart as the new Green Lantern Corps. recruit being paired with Lantern legend Hal Jordan, together described as “two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.” Kelly Macdonald plays Hal’s reported love interest, Sheriff Kerry, who seems to be pursued over the course of the season, Garret Dillahunt plays “modern cowboy” William Macon, Jason Ritter as his son Billy Macon, Poorna Jagannathan plays Zoe, John’s reported love interest, and Ulrich Thomsen plays the villain Sinestro. John’s parents have been cast for two time periods. His mother, Bernadette, will be played by Jasmine Cephas Jones in flashbacks and Nicole Ari Parker in present day, while his father John Sr. is played in flashbacks by J. Alphonse Nicholson and in present day by Sherman Augustus. Showrunner Chris Mundy, previously of Ozark, and co-writers and executive producers Lindelof and Tom King all developed the show. James Hawes directs the first two episodes and also executive produces with Ron Schmidt. The other directors are Stephen Williams, Geeta Vasant Patel, and Alik Sakharov, while the costume designer is Cynthia Ann Summers. Lanterns is the first live action series crafted for the new DC Universe and premieres on HBO in early 2026.

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Source: Deadline