It’s been a rather fraught week for fans of the DCU. Fresh off the news of James Gunn and Peter Safran no longer running DC Studios for Warner Bros. came rampant speculation about the status of several projects developed under their watch. Perhaps the biggest question mark seemed to revolve around the status of Lanterns Season 2. While a critical and fan hit, the fact that the show hadn’t been greenlit for another season in the month since the season finale aired struck many as unusual. A bombshell report in Variety stating that most DC properties under Gunn and Safran lost money seemed to confirm the show would not be returning, with a supposed studio insider suggesting the silence was telling, saying, “people cannot wait to make another season of a hit show.”
When this report dropped, it seemed almost certain that the show would not return, although showrunner Chris Cantwell (Halt and Catch Fire) denied the speculation on his Bluesky account, posting, “Nothing’s cancelled. Calm down.”
By all accounts, Lanterns was a decent hit, with its global average of 19 million viewers per episode, which is comparable to The Penguin and ahead of the last run of True Detective (which is getting another season), although it paled in comparison to shows like Euphoria, House of the Dragon, The White Lotus and even IT: Welcome to Derry. Still, it did well enough that a second season seems reasonable.
Of course, with Gunn and Safran out, it remains to be seen which of their projects continue on in some form. Superman: Man of Tomorrow has already finished filming, as has the Jimmy Olsen spin-off series, The People v. Gorilla Grodd. My hunch is that Lanterns, despite its respectable ratings, wasn’t a big enough hit to be an undeniable success for Skydance, and if they scrap the Gunn/Safran continuity, I would be surprised to see it return. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.
The comment section exists to allow readers to discuss the article constructively and respectfully, focused on the topic at hand.
What’s Not Allowed