Out of all the projects DC Studios announced, Lanternsis the one that’s faced the biggest uphill battle. From the first official images to the first teaser trailer, viewers were less than impressed because the series seemed to downplay the cosmic elements in the Green Lantern comics. That changed with another trailer, which put a spotlight on the power of the Green Lantern ring and the dynamic between Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre). San Diego Comic-Con delivered what might be the best Lanterns trailer during an official panel for the series, which revealed that a group of villains from the Green Lantern mythos are finally making their first live-action appearance.
During the trailer, Stewart asks Jordan, “What do you know about Manhunters?” Fans immediately clocked this as a reference to the Manhunters, the race of machines that defended the universe before the Green Lantern Corps. First appearing in Justice League of America #140by Steve Englehart and Dick Dillin, the Manhunters eventually grew self-aware and turned against their creators, the Guardians of the Universe. What makes the Manhunters so dangerous is their ability to shapeshift, meaning they can hide anywhere. This shapeshifting ability is shown in the official SDCC trailer for Lanterns, and it looks like it’ll fuel the mystery aspect of the series.
The Manhunters Have Connections To Other DC Characters
The Manhunters’ reign of terror isn’t just connected to the Green Lanterns, but other DC villains and heroes as well. Following their first defeat at the hands of the Justice League, the Manhunters enact a plan to infiltrate the lives of different superheroes by posing as their friends and family during the Millenniumcrossover; Mark Shaw, one of their agents, later takes up the hero mantle of “Manhunter.” Geoff Johns would later return to the concept of the Manhunters during his Green Lantern run, first revealing that their destructive uprising against the Guardians of the Universe led to the origin of the rage-filled Red Lantern, Atrocitus. Johns would also have Hank Henshaw, the Cyborg Superman, take control of the Manhunters and have them join the Sinestro Corps.
The shape-shifting aspect of the Manhunters, and their name, might also bring another comic book hero to mind: J’onn J’onzz, aka the Martian Manhunter. While the Manhunters aren’t Martians, it was eventually revealed that they took their name and much of their code from the ancient protectors of Mars. While the Martian Manhunter has yet to appear in a DC Studios project, the connection to the Manhunters is one that’s worth exploring. If Lanterns does wind up exploring the other Lantern Corps in future seasons, the Red Lanterns could even make an appearance.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Personality Quiz Which Sci-Fi Hero Are You Most Like? Paul Atreides · Captain Kirk · Princess Leia · Ellen Ripley · Max Rockatansky
Five iconic heroes. Five completely different ways of facing an impossible universe. One of them shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of refusing to back down. Eight questions will tell you which one.
🏜️Paul Atreides
🖖Capt. Kirk
✊Princess Leia
🔦Ellen Ripley
🔥Max Rockatansky
01
How do you lead when the stakes couldn’t be higher? The way you lead under pressure is the most honest thing about you.
02
What is your greatest strength in a crisis? The quality that keeps you alive when everything else fails.
03
What is the thing you’d sacrifice everything else for? Your deepest motivation is your truest compass.
04
How do you relate to the people around you? Who you are to others under pressure is who you really are.
05
You’re facing a threat that no one else believes is real. What do you do? How you respond when you’re the only one who sees it defines everything.
06
What has your heroism cost you personally? Every hero pays. The question is what — and whether they’d pay it again.
07
How do you feel about the rules of the world you’re in? Every hero has a relationship with the system. What’s yours?
08
When everything is on the line, what keeps you going? The answer is the most honest thing about you.
Your Hero Has Been Identified Your Sci-Fi Hero Is…
Your answers point to the iconic sci-fi hero who shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of facing the impossible.
Arrakis · Dune
Paul Atreides
You carry a weight most people would crumble under — the knowledge of what you’re capable of, and the burden of what you might have to become.
You see further ahead than others and you plan accordingly, even when the vision frightens you.
You are driven by loyalty to your people and a sense of destiny you didn’t ask for but can’t escape.
Paul Atreides is not simply a hero — he is someone who understands the cost of power and chooses to bear it anyway.
That gravity, that willingness to carry what others won’t, is exactly you.
USS Enterprise · Star Trek
Captain Kirk
You lead with instinct, warmth, and an absolute refusal to accept a no-win scenario — because you’ve always believed there’s a third option nobody else has thought of yet.
You take the mission seriously without ever taking yourself too seriously.
Your crew would follow you anywhere, not because you demand it, but because you’ve earned it.
Kirk’s genius isn’t tactical — it’s human. He reads people, bends rules with purpose, and wills outcomes into existence through sheer conviction.
That combination of warmth, audacity, and relentless optimism is unmistakably yours.
The Rebellion · Star Wars
Princess Leia
You are the kind of person who holds the line when everyone else is losing faith — not because you’re fearless, but because giving up simply isn’t something you’re capable of.
You lead through conviction. Your voice carries because your belief is unshakeable.
You gave up everything ordinary the moment you chose the cause, and you’ve never looked back.
Leia is not a supporting character in her own story — she is the moral centre of the entire rebellion.
That same fierce, principled, unbreakable core is what defines you.
The Nostromo · Alien
Ellen Ripley
You are not reckless, not grandiose, and not particularly interested in being anyone’s hero — you just refuse to stop when it matters.
You see threats clearly, you document the truth even when no one listens, and when the time comes you handle it yourself.
Ripley’s heroism is earned, not performed. She doesn’t have a speech — she has a flamethrower and a plan.
You share her composure under the worst possible pressure, and her refusal to pretend the monster isn’t there.
When it counts, you don’t flinch. That’s everything.
The Wasteland · Mad Max
Max Rockatansky
You have been through fire that would break most people — and what came out the other side is something the world underestimates at its peril.
You don’t ask for help, don’t need validation, and don’t wait for anyone to tell you the rules no longer apply.
Your loyalty, when it finally arrives, is absolute — but it’s earned in silence and tested in action, not in words.
Max is not a nihilist. He is someone who lost everything and found, against his will, that he still has something worth protecting.
That bruised, stubborn, ultimately human core is exactly yours.
‘Lanterns’ Is Slated To Feature Another Iconic DC Villain in A Surprising Role
Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) dons his Green Lantern uniform in ‘Lanterns’.Image via HBO Max
The Manhunters won’t be the only threat that Hal Jordan and John Stewart face in Lanterns, as the SDCC trailer revealed the first official look at Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen). Originally Jordan’s partner and mentor, Sinestro turned against the Green Lantern Corps and became the leader of the fear-powered Sinestro Corps. But though he’s imprisoned on an alien planet, Sinestro proves to be every bit as menacing as he goads Jordan into admitting his fear that Stewart will eventually take up the mantle of Green Lantern. Lanterns showrunner Chris Mundy previously touched on how Jordan and Sinestro’s history will shape the series, especially with how he approaches training Stewart:
“The thing that interests us is this idea [that] Hal was trained by Sinestro, Hal is training John. In the coaching tree, we’re very interested in what gets passed on, what doesn’t, how much is human nature. We talked a lot about programming and parenting and training…What did Hal take away from Sinestro that was good or bad? It brings up a lot of interesting worries.”
Between Sinestro and the Manhunters, Lanterns is showing that it’s willing to embrace more of its comic book roots than fans initially thought. This bodes well for the series, and for DC Studios’ future.
Image via HBO Max
