Summary
Now thatLanternsis officially confirmed for HBO, an underratedGreen Lanternseries has already proved that a show works much better than a movie about theDCheroes, making the move a smart choice for the upcomingDC Universe release. While fans wait eagerly forLanterns, a show from 11 years ago has already truly showed the potential a television series can have when covering the vast lore of Hal Jordan, John Stewart, and the rest of the Green Lanterns.
Green Lantern: The Animated Seriespremiered on August 16, 2025, and ran for only one season before being canceled. Despite its brief run, it covered a lot of what makes the character of Green Lantern so compelling and why it makes sense for the character’s mythology to be explored as a series.Green Lantern: The Animated Seriesis an underrated DC series thatdeserves its recognition among other top-tierDC animated showslikeBatman: The Animated SeriesandJustice League Unlimited.
Why Nathan Fillion’s Green Lantern Costume Is So Controversial
Recent set photos have given audiences their first look at Guy Gardner and his unusual and surprising Green Lantern costume in Superman.
Green Lantern: The Animated Series Proves Lanterns Is Better Off As A Show
Because of it being a show,Green Lantern: The Animated Serieswas able to adapt key elements of the important characters and universe while also forging its own path, making it some of the best Green Lantern content around.
The Green Lantern mythology is vast, making it hard for a movie to cover all the essential aspects of it. It’s just not feasible for a single movie (or even a trilogy) to properly explore all the Earth-based Lanterns as well as the other Lantern Corps. Because it followed a show format,Green Lantern: The Animated Serieswas able to adapt key elements of the important characters and universe while also forging its own path, making it some of the best Green Lantern content around.
Despite lasting only one season,Green Lantern: The Animated Serieswas able to include key characters from its vast mythology, such as Larfleeze, Sinestro, and Atrocitus, while still crafting a satisfying story.It’s a shame that the series isn’t discussed more in terms of the best DC animated shows around, but it deserves its place among them. Unfortunately, it was completely overshadowed by a specific Ryan Reynolds-led movie that came about a little under a year before it.
Green Lantern: The Animated Series was reportedly canceled due to poor toy sales and the movie bombing, and not because of anything to do with the quality of the show.
DC Already Tried A Green Lantern Movie & It Bombed Massively
In 2011, DC was all in on the character and pinning their hopes of a brand new cinematic universe on the potential success ofGreen Lantern, starring Ryan Reynolds as the titular hero. The movie proved to be a massive failure both critically and financially, earning a 25% on Rotten Tomatoes and bombing spectacularly at the box office. Because of this, aGreen Lanternsequel never happened, and the attempt at a cinematic universe was scrapped immediately.
There are a number of factors that led to how badlyGreen Lanterndid in 2011.The fully CGI suit became a meme that was later used as a punchline inDeadpool,the other superhero property that Reynolds would star in. There were also odd story choices and character designs that did the movie no favors. Maybe the biggest reason the film failed, though, was that there isn’t enough time for a movie to do justice to flesh out the vast Green Lantern mythology in a satisfying way.
What Lanterns Can Learn From Green Lantern: The Animated Series
Lanternswill skip Hal Jordan’s origin story and focus on a seasoned Hal working alongside rookie Green Lantern John Stewart, allowing the show to begin exploring Green Lantern history in the DCU in a much broader sense.In wanting to explore the Green Lantern mythology,Lanternsshould learn fromGreen Lantern: The Animated Serieson how to successfully adapt the characters.Of course, the tone of a prestige HBO show will be different from a Cartoon Network animated series, butGreen Lantern: The Animated Seriesis a fantastic reference point when creating a series focus on the hero group.
WhatGreen Lantern: The Animated Seriessucceeded at, and whatLanternsshould focus on, was fantastic character work that allowed audiences to get invested in the story. Hal Jordan was at his best in the series, and the sprawling Green Lantern universe was explored to an impressive degree during the show’s run. IfLanternsis able to place a similar emphasis on strong character development for Hal Jordan and John Stewart, as well as begin to open up the massive world of the Green Lantern Corps as effectively, it could be a strong project for the DCU.
It’s reasonable to assume the Green Lantern franchise hasn’t fully recovered in the eyes of general audiences following the failure ofGreen Lantern, makingLanterns’job of redeeming the property extremely important. Making it into a prestige HBO show is already a solid step in the right direction, especially since episodic formats have already proved effective for the kind of story about to be told. IfLanternscan match up toGreen Lantern: The Animated Series,it could be one of the most important pieces of the DCU, and open up the possibility of other characters getting shows as well.
Green Lantern: The Animated Series
Cast
Adapted from the DC Comics, Green Lantern: The Animated Series recounts the adventures of Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern of Sector 2814, and his partner Kilowog. Traveling to “Frontier Space” the Green Lanterns face off against the deadly Red Lanterns and their leader Atrocitus, who seeks revenge for the destruction of his world.
