Before Lanterns, HBO was developing a different Green Lantern series that had even begun casting before it was ultimately scrapped. Marc Guggenheim was working on the series with Greg Berlanti, and he posted a few pieces of concept art on Substack that look more like the cosmic adventures some fans were hoping Lanterns would be.
HBO’s Cancelled Green Lantern Project
One piece features a group of Lanterns fighting off a horde of alien creatures, complete with different construct weapons. Guggenheim said this would have been from the opening sequence of the first episode. There are also some suit designs, one for Finn Wittrock’s Guy Gardner and another for Bree Jarta, a new character developed for the series.
The Gardner design doesn’t exactly scream Guy Gardner (the absence of the bowl-cut is jarring), but Guggenheim said it would have been tweaked slightly to reflect his Justice League International look.
Although Lanterns went in a different direction, some pieces of the original show survived. Guggenheim said his pitch was titled Emerald Knights, and, like Lanterns, it would have spanned two time periods and featured the Manhunters as the primary villains.
When the Emerald Knights series was first announced, it was slated to tell a story “spanning decades and galaxies, beginning on Earth in 1941 with the very first Green Lantern, secretly gay FBI agent Alan Scott, and 1984, with cocky alpha male Guy Gardner and half-alien Bree Jarta. They’ll be joined by a multitude of other Lanterns — from comic book favorites to never-before-seen heroes.” Jeremy Irvine (Treadstone) was set to star as Alan Scott alongside Finn Wittrock (American Horror Story) as Guy Gardner.
The project spent several years in development, but was scrapped and redeveloped into what would become Lanterns.
Lanterns Could Return
Although Lanterns has proved somewhat divisive among fans, it has received largely positive reviews and strong viewership numbers, yet HBO hasn’t given it an official green light.
“You always approach these situations with assuming something’s gonna happen and not being heartbroken if it doesn’t happen,” said showrunner Chris Mundy on the chances of a second season. “We’re all happy and proud of season 1 and mostly just happy that people seem to like it for the reasons that we intended. If there’s more, great. And if there’s not, we had our day.” He also teased that a new season would likely be another Earth-based story, like the first.
You can check out a review of the first season from our own Alex Maidy right here.
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