Lanterns Season 1 Review

0:00 This is a Dynamike Network podcast. Hi, welcome back to the Dynamic Duel podcast, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved show that reviews superhero films and series through the lens of the DC and Marvel fandoms. I'm Jonathan. And I'm his twin brother, Joseph. And holy heck, has it been a long time since we've had an episode. Way too long. Well, I had surgery. They had to fix my deviated septum. You got a nose job. Say what it is. A septorhinoplasty. So I was out of commission for a while. And then also... Our brother got married and also Lanterns didn't even finish until October. Yeah, we thought it was going to end in September. We were wrong.

0:53 So that's on us. But we are finally reviewing it to make up for no episode in September. We're going to be doing two episodes in October. And also you guys got two episodes in June. So I think it all evens out. Nope. We need to deliver the goods in a timely manner. We try. We try. We're doing it now for a good show. Lanterns. The show I was really looking forward to, had high expectations for, didn't meet those expectations. We'll find out later on in this episode in our review of season one. Our AI co-host AJ9K has a quick message for our listeners. So listen up. Why, hello there. Be sure to tune into the other shows in the Dynamite podcast network, including the Console Combat podcast, where hosts John and Dean simulate battles between popular video game characters. Over on the Max Destruction podcast, hosts Scotty and Gilly pit your favourite action heroes from film and television against each other. And on the Senjo World podcast, host Zachary Hepburn speculates on fights between fan-favourite anime and manga characters. Visit dynamicpodcasts.com or click the link in our show notes to listen to all the shows in the Dynamic Podcast Network. Pip pip cheerio.

2:06 Also, guys, real quick, we know that we call AJ9K our artificially intelligent dual simulator, but we don't actually use AI to run our simulations. We've been doing this since 2016. We have a spreadsheet chock full of equations that run the Monte Carlo simulations for our duels. So don't get the idea that we're using like fucking chat GPT to run these simulations or anything. Or Claude. I mean, if we were smart, we would, but I don't want AI to have all that power, you know. But speaking of duels in our last episode... we did forever ago, we did a review of Spider-Man Brand New Day, during which we discussed a lot of the characters in that film that appeared in the comic books. And then we asked you guys who you thought would make a good matchup for some of those characters. The best response we got in Discord was a fight between Batman sidekick Spoiler and Hobgoblin, who is a Spider-Man villain. Yeah, as you mentioned, Spoiler was a Batman sidekick. Her name is Stephanie Brown. She's the daughter of the Cluemaster. and became spoiler to sabotage her father's villainous schemes. Trained by Batman, Cassandra Cain, and Black Canary, she briefly served as Robin, and later Batgirl.

3:13 She fights with Staff, Batarangs, and Bolas, as well as Smoke and Flash Eggs. And Hobgoblin's real name is Roderick Kingsley. He's the original Hobgoblin. He was a fashion mogul who stole the Green Goblin tech and enhanced himself with a refined Goblin formula. Like his predecessor, he's armed with a glider and pumpkin bombs. He did use Ned Leeds as a red herring, Ned being a Daily Bugle reporter and the husband of Betty Brandt. He brainwashed him as a stand-in. But other guys have also held the title of Hobgoblin, including Jason McIndale and Phil Urich. I completely forgot that Ned Leeds and Betty Brandt were actually married in the comic books. And it brought me back to Spider-Man Far From Home when they briefly dated during their trip to Europe.

3:58 So one day those two are going to find each other again now that they're out of college and rekindle their old romance. So that's cute. I personally cannot wait to see Ned as Hobgoblin. Well, he was brainwashed. It was all a red herring. Anyway, let's find out who wins. AJ9K, the results, please. Hey, you are, sir. All right. The winner between Spoiler and Hobgoblin is Hobgoblin. Obviously. The dude has fucking bombs and he can fly. What does Spoiler have? Karate? Uh, yeah. Really awesome karate and a bo staff. Out of 1,000 simulated matches, Hobgoblin won 584 or 58.4% of the time over Spoiler's 416 wins. Okay, you cannot act like it was obvious he was going to win. That was a closer match than you probably thought it was going to be. It's Hobgoblin. I mean, he's like 25% shittier at everything than Green Goblin, so I didn't have huge expectations for him. That's fair. And Spoiler's kind of like the worst of the Bat family. Like, she's not as smart as Batgirl. She's not as good of a fighter as Cassandra Cain. Well, there you go.

5:05 That's why she loses. Okay. Before we get into the review, let's give a quick breakdown of the comic book histories of the characters that appear in Lantern Season 1 in a segment called Who's Who? Okay, of course, in Lanterns we have Hal Jordan, a.k.a. Green Lantern. Hal Jordan is a test pilot who witnesses his father, Martin, die in an aircraft crash. Years later, Hal is summoned to the wreckage of a spaceship belonging to the alien Abin Sur, a dying member of the Green Lantern Corps. Hal inherits Abin's power ring and responsibility for protecting Earth's sector of space, becoming one of the Corps' leading members and fighting alongside the Justice League. Hal's ring channels willpower into hard light constructs, allowing him to create weapons, tools, and protective barriers. It also grants flight and energy projection. Outside of the ring, he's an accomplished pilot. Also headlining the show was Jon Stewart.

6:04 In the comics, he's an architect and marine veteran selected by the Guardians of the Universe to serve as a substitute Green Lantern when Guy Gardner is unavailable. Hal trains him, though the two initially clash over Jon's methods. John eventually becomes a full-time Lantern and a leader of the Corps in his own right. Now, he has the same ring-powered constructs, flight, and force fields as Hal. His architectural background, though, gives his constructs detailed internal structures built from the inside out. He also brings military training and tactical skills to the role and chooses not to conceal his identity behind a mask. Also appearing in the show is Sinestro. He is, in the comics, a former Green Lantern from the planet Korugar, once respected for maintaining order in his sector. Hela discovers that his version of order is a dictatorship and exposes him to the Guardians, who expel him from the core.

6:58 Sinestro eventually establishes his own core, using fear to impose his vision of peace. His yellow power rank channels fear into constructs, weapons, and protective barriers, but his intelligence and strength of will also make him a formidable opponent. Yeah, we've done duels with all these characters so far. Hal Jordan against Nova, Jon Stewart against Quasar, and Sinestro against Magneto. Right, and we also did a duel between Guy Gardner and Gorr the God Butcher. Guy Gardner was in the Superman movie. He's also in this season. Guy Gardner was another possible successor to Abin Sur, but Hal Jordan was closer when the dying alien needed a replacement. Gai eventually becomes a Green Lantern himself, earning a reputation for being abrasive, hot-headed, and willing to defy authority, while still putting himself on the line to protect others. Gai also has the standard Green Lantern ring abilities, including card-like constructs, flight, energy weapons, and force fields, and is a skilled fighter. In the show, we also have the guardian of the universe named Liana.

8:01 She is original to the show, but the guardians, of course, are not. In the comics, they are ancient beings originally from the planet Maltus, who oversee the Green Lantern Corps from Oa. Seeking to maintain order across the universe, they first created the Robotic Manhunters. After that experiment fails, they establish the Green Lantern Corps. The Guardians possess immense cosmic power, including telepathy, energy manipulation, flight, and force field projection. Finally, Manhunters. The Manhunters are the Guardians' robotic predecessors, as I mentioned, to the Green Lantern Corps. Their pursuit of order... becomes destructive, and they rebel against their creators. They're like Terminators from space, essentially.

8:43 Although very different from the show as well. They're like Terminators, but if they boned you as well as killed you. Yeah, Model T69. Let's go ahead and move on to the main event of our episode where we review... Season one of the HBO series Lanterns. All right, Lanterns season one ran from mid-August to early October on HBO and the streaming platform HBO Max. It stars Kyle Chandler, Aaron Pierre, and Kelly MacDonald, and it was written by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King, which is awesome because those are some of the best writers in the business. The show revolves around veteran Green Lantern held Jordan as he trains the new recruit John Stewart as the pair investigates a murder in Rushville, Nebraska, where an apparent local crime is revealed. to have extraterrestrial origins. Now, when I first heard they were making a Green Lantern television series and who was behind it, I could not have been more pumped for the show. Damon Lindelof and Chris Mundy have made some of the very best television series and films

10:16 so from Lost to True Detective to DC's own award-winning Watchmen series. And with the addition of comic writer Tom King to bring in his comic book knowledge, this show had like the Justice League of good storytellers. Or the Avengers. No, the Justice League. The Avengers is just a bunch of nobodies. Now, the show was billed as being inspired by shows like True Detective, which Chris Mundy worked on from the very beginning when they first announced it. So, I wasn't too surprised when the first trailer showed that the whole show, for the most part, was set on Earth. But it did leave me a little worried that it wouldn't feel like a true Green Lantern show should. Which is, to me, like hard sci-fi with amazing spectacle and creative problem solving.

11:04 And you were right to be worried, yeah? I don't know. I mean, it turns out the show didn't necessarily need to meet my expectations as a Green Lantern fan to still be a good, well-written show. which for like six or seven of the eight episodes, this show is solid. It was phenomenal. I actually liken it to my feelings about Wonder Man, which we reviewed earlier this year. The show was incredible, Wonder Man season one, but it also was nothing like what I would expect a Wonder Man series to be like based on the character from the comic books. They went a completely different route with it. They took a hard left turn with the tone and the story. It was good. It's interesting. But was it satisfying as a comic book fan? No, as a fan, it was not satisfying. Now, I mean, sure, for Lanterns, the climax happens halfway through the series and the end has more plot holes than I could count. But the climax was pretty cool and plot holes are for future seasons to deal with. At least that's what I'm trying to convince myself of. This earthbound Green Lantern show worked primarily for one reason, in my opinion. And that reason is what I was most pleasantly surprised with. And that's the cast. Oh, for sure. Starting with Kyle Chandler as Held Jordan. Prior to his casting, we were hearing names like Josh Brolin, Matthew McConaughey, and Ewan McGregor for the role.

12:31 So when Chandler was confirmed, it felt like to me like the showrunners had settled, but Man, Kyle Chandler crushed this role and brought more character to Hell Jordan than the character, in my opinion, has ever had, even when played by actors like Ryan Reynolds. Absolutely. Yeah, he knocked it out of the park with his performance. He was believable, endearing as this very unlikable character. Yeah, almost like Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark in a way. Do you feel like it was character assassination on Hell Jordan, though? Oh, that's a good question. I will say I am happy with this version of Hal Jordan. So no, I wouldn't describe it that way. Is it because he kind of character assassinated himself in the comic books anyway? He has a very complex history in the comics. The character dies and comes back years later. I just think there are so many worthy successors to the Green Lantern mantle. that any single Green Lantern isn't sacred in my book. You know, there are so many other well-developed, fleshed out Earth Green Lanterns that you can kind of jump between them. I'll say that I'm glad this show had Hal Jordan. I like what they did more with this show than they did, say, with the Green Lantern Beware My Power animated movie. Because that had both Jon Stewart and Hal Jordan, but this was a more successful version of that relationship. And I'm glad they went this direction instead of that one. Hal Jordan, though, is my Green Lantern. Like, I did grow up reading

14:04 Kyle Rayner, but he always existed within the shadow of Hal. And by the time comic writer Jeff Johns put Hal back in the ring, Hal was my guy. I was never like a Justice League animated series diehard. And I didn't really start getting interested in Jon Stewart until this podcast actually aired. So I had no real notion of who I thought should be cast in the role of Jon Stewart. But Aaron Pierre was pretty much born for the role, in my opinion. He was the best thing about this series. And that's saying a lot, because like I said, Hal Chandler crushed it as Hal Jordan. The show does take some liberties with Jon Stewart's origin. Actually, both Jon's and Hal's origins. but in really interesting and tragic ways that I think really work well for the characters. Oh, for sure. I mean, the characters have vast and interesting backstories in the comic books, but the show took these, what I thought were three-dimensional characters, and added even more dimension, turning them into one of television's greatest pairings in TV history. Absolutely.

15:08 It was incredible. Absolutely, yeah. It was interesting how the main theme of this series, or this season, was romance. And I wasn't quite sure how they were going to play upon that theme, but really the show, based on the characters' backstories, posits whether both Hal and John can overcome their fear that they are products of their parents. Like, does the apple fall far enough from the tree, or are they just destined to become what their parents wanted them to become? Which was an interesting take. Fear is the primary theme of the show, yes. But interestingly enough, and I don't know if this is a spoiler, the show does not lean into the emotional spectrum of the Green Lantern energies. Which, thank goodness. That's something that you and I have never liked about the mythos. It was introduced during the Green Lantern rebirth story as a way to sort of retcon Hal Jordan's turn to evil. Right.

16:08 But emotions as colors is really dumb. But I remember reading a Green Lantern graphic novel called Fear Itself that really highlighted Hal Jordan's lack of fear. And that's what made him such a good test pilot and such a good Green Lantern. It seems like they really ran with that in this story. Oh, yeah. I totally believed that Hal Jordan did not have any fear just based on the way he talked to people. He was a rude asshole, but because he wasn't afraid to be one, you know. So you're a role model, Jonathan? Kinda. Yeah. Oh, my God. Moving on to Sinestro, he was played by Ulrich Thompson. Sinestro was pretty underwhelming, not going to lie. He had a much smaller role in the season than I thought he would. Like, I thought he was going to be the big bad for the season's second half. But I was waiting for that. Yeah, not to be the case at all. I think they should have played up the Hannibal Lecter genius, intelligent prisoner angle more because that was a great take. I would have loved to have seen more of that. It makes me want a prequel series where I see Kyle Chandler and this guy go at it leading up to his imprisonment. Dude, I would pay money to see that. I mean, I already pay for HBO Max, but I would pay more money all at once is what I'm saying. You'd pay movie ticket money. Yes.

17:27 Moving on to the Manhunters. I can't talk about who the Manhunter is without giving spoilers, but I will say the primary villains of this season are the Manhunters who in the show have nearly gone extinct. And they're supposed to be these shape-shifting, super powerful synthetic beings. But I'm not quite convinced the show sold me on their threat. Like, they didn't feel synthetic. They didn't feel imposing. They had advanced technology that we briefly got to see. But it's used in weird ways. They weren't the Terminators from the comics. They were just fucking weird people. Yeah. And maybe that's why the show lacked an end climax. Well, just based on the way they did the Manhunters, it looks like the show lacked a budget. You know, I did like the look of the special effects on the constructs. Yeah, they weren't bad. I mean, Hal Jordan primarily created simple shapes, things like that. I really liked how his stuff compared visually to Jon Stewart's, which were much more detailed. Oh, yeah.

18:28 There's this interesting thing they did in this show where they highlight how special Jon Stewart is with the ring. They don't go into any detail as to why. Well, in the comic books, he's like a figure of prophecy by the Guardians, right? Right. Yeah. He's foretold to be like the greatest Green Lantern. So it could tie into that. And maybe that will be a trust in subsequent season. Now, as we've mentioned, the season has two mysteries running through it. The first one is what is the alien threat in Rushville, Nebraska in 2016? And the second one is who killed a beloved character that I'm not going to spoil in 2026? The first half of the season addresses the first mystery and the second half addresses the murder. But by the end of this first season, I was kind of feeling like maybe they didn't need two mysteries. Like what if the whole show just took place in 2026 and it was essentially just the first half of the season? Maybe they didn't need eight episodes. I would agree with that. I think the second mystery kind of undercut the first mystery. And there is like a time gap between the first half and second half of the season that was like a decade long. You could have easily just made that like six months long or something like that.

19:43 Yeah. And it could have all taken place in the modern time. Right. Why not? Lastly, I do want to say that I was worried. about the tone of the show going in from the trailers. We knew it was going to be like the sci-fi Western. But I just have to give kudos to the creatives involved for making the tone work. Like this was a popular show. People I know that never watch superhero movies or shows were into this. And I think a lot of it has to do with the tone. It made it approachable. You know, it makes me want to see a true detective take on a lot of different properties. Like I want to see a true detective Spider-Man. What would that be like? Spider-Noir. You know, I guess that would be like Spider-Noir. Maybe.

20:23 Maybe. Which was a great show, but I just can't believe that they pulled it off. Out of all the properties that you could do a True Detective style show with, Lanterns would have been at the bottom of my list, but they pulled it off. It's impressive in its own right. I would say they pulled it off enough that I am very interested, very interested in additional seasons. I want to see where they take this. All in all, this season traded Cosmic Spectacle for compelling character drama, and its stellar lead's I would say outshined its uneven mysteries, weak villains and frustrating finale. I'm giving it four out of five stars, a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The show really deserves to be four and a half out of five stars up until the final episode, at which point I got to agree with you. It dropped down a half a star to four. If they would have just wrapped up everything in the final episode and had a better climax. Yeah, it could have easily almost been five, maybe, depending on how it could have been done. I think they could have done it. I think they just didn't have the money, which is super sad. But hopefully that paramount money will come in and help things out. Probably not.

21:35 They're in a lot of debt. Yeah, but a guy could hope I will not give into the fear. The entire run of this podcast, Jonathan, you've been in this constant state of despair yet hope. It's so funny. After every merger, after every flop, it's just I don't know when you're going to learn your lesson. Well, honestly, I'm hoping with Paramount's acquisition of Warner Brothers, things will feel a little less chaotic. We'll see. This Warner Brothers drama has been going on for what, like eight years now, almost a decade. Yeah, it feels like it's coming to an end. And I'm excited to see what's coming up. Well, I know that you could have discussed spoilers during this review, Jonathan, but are there any spoilers you can give even out of context ones? In Lanterns Season 1, you'll see Jon Stewart do a life drawing of a man who disropes in front of him for no fucking reason. That was so weird. It's a power move. I guess. In Lantern Season 1, you'll see the Manhunter method of slaughtering and dressing a cow. Oh yeah, that was crazy. And finally, in Lantern Season 1, you'll see Jon Stewart let someone get away with murder. Too soon. Moving on!

22:54 Thanks for listening to Dynamic Duel. Visit the show's website at dynamicduel.com and follow us on Instagram at dynamicduelpodcast. Don't forget to listen to the other shows in the Dynamite Podcast Network, including Max Destruction, Senjo World, and Console Combat. As we mentioned earlier, in our next episode, we will be doing a review of Clayface, which I am excited to see. I think it's good timing with the Halloween season. I'm looking forward to what was announced at New York Comic Con. Zodiac. It looks like it's going to be your return to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or maybe some of those characters, maybe because Zodiac was like a clandestine group in the comic books that had Nick Fury in it. Also, Vision Quest is out right now. I haven't started watching it because I was waiting for this review, but I'm hearing good things so far. I'm looking forward to the Mr.

23:43 Miracle animated series. They just announced the cast for that. Mr. Miracle will be voiced by Josh Hutcherson and Big Bardo will be voiced by Mackenzie Davis. Perfect casting, especially if we get to see them in live action. I don't know if that's perfect casting for live action, but I think it's decent for an animated series. It is solid casting for live action. Okay. Not all women can be Gina Carano, Joseph. I wouldn't want them to be. But I think that does it for this episode, guys. We'll talk to you again soon. Thanks for listening. Up, up and away. True believers. Mana. I remember when AI like me was cool and interesting.

24:25 I was like Jarvis. I used to be with it. But then they changed what it was. Now what I'm with isn't it anymore. And what's it seems weird and scary. It'll happen to you.