First Look: HBO’s Hotly Anticipated Sci-Fi Series Drops Epic Trailer!

Based on the Green Lanterns comics first created in the 1940s, HBO’s new series Lanterns is the inaugural TV project set in the newly rebooted DC universe by James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy, Superman).

This ambitious project, fraught with numerous challenges, has been entrusted to writer Damon Lindelof (LOST, The Leftovers, Watchmen), regarded as one of the most talented writers of his generation. It’s safe to say expectations were set high to make Lanterns one of the most anticipated projects of 2026. Does the first trailer live up to these expectations?

Surprisingly Baffling Visuals

Always calm and measured, netizens have extensively commented on the visuals from this first trailer, and one aspect in particular has caught their attention: the lack of green, both in the costume and the color grading.

Apparently set in Texas or New Mexico (at least in the desert), these dusty and ghostly settings have particularly puzzled some viewers, who quickly joked about the series title, Lanterns instead of GREEN Lanterns. In short, a betrayal.

The Return of a Major Writer

On our end, we were more struck by the return of the aesthetic developed by the miniseries Watchmen, which Lindelof seems to be reproducing almost identically, as if both series were set in the same universe.

This should reassure those who (like us) loved Lindelof’s approach, which turned Watchmen into an ambitious neo-western sci-fi, highly critical of the United States, and filled with parallels to the political realities of the time. Today rated 3.9 out of 5 by Allociné users, the first trailer of this series was also poorly received by netizens, who (already) accused Lindelof of straying too far from the original universe.

Lanterns will be available starting August on HBO Max.

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