In the days before its August 16 premiere, HBO offered the world its first glimpse of Lanterns — a series that asks, through the shared mythology of two Green Lanterns, what it means to be chosen for something larger than oneself. The footage traces a bond between Hal Jordan and John Stewart that begins in childhood wonder and arrives, years later, at the complicated terrain of mentorship. James Gunn's DC Universe enters live-action with a question older than any superhero story: are you afraid?
HBO's Lanterns Debuts First 5 Minutes, Revealing John Stewart's Green Lantern Origin
The man he once watched on television is now his trainer
Mark
So the clip is really just showing us how John Stewart became interested in Green Lantern in the first place?
Mimi
It's more than that. It's showing us that Hal Jordan was John's childhood hero—the moment he saw him stop that meteor in 1986, that became the thing John wanted to be. And then the show cuts to years later when John is actually in a car with Hal, and he's not excited. He's flat.
Luke
Wait—how much time passes between the young John watching TV and the adult John getting in the car? The source doesn't say.
Mimi
That's a fair point. We know Hal debuted in 1986, but we don't know John's age then or now. The gap could be ten years or thirty.
Mark
But the father asking "Are you afraid?" before shooting the apple—that's the same question Hal was asked when he was chosen, right?
Mimi
Yes. So John's father is either deliberately training him the same way, or it's a coincidence. The source suggests it's deliberate—that this is a pattern, not a one-time thing.
Luke
But we don't actually know the father's motivation. Is he preparing John to be a Green Lantern? Is he just a tough parent? The clip doesn't explain that.
Mark
And John doesn't flinch, which suggests he's used to it.
Mimi
Right. It's either a sign of courage or numbness. Maybe both.
Luke
The source says John "does not seem to have the same excitement" about being with Hal in the car. But that could mean a lot of things—disappointment, nervousness, professionalism. We're reading a lot into a facial expression.
Mark
Fair. So what we actually know is: young John admired Hal, Hal was asked "Are you afraid?" when chosen, John's father asks him the same thing, and now adult John is training with Hal but doesn't look thrilled about it.
Mimi
That's the shape of it. The show is betting that those pieces will make sense together once we watch the full episode.
Der Puls
- HBO dropped the opening five minutes of Lanterns online just days before its Sunday premiere, raising anticipation for DC's first live-action Green Lantern project since the ill-fated 2011 Ryan Reynolds film.
- The footage reveals a childhood moment that defines John Stewart — a boy transfixed by Hal Jordan's televised heroism in 1986, a spark of inspiration that will quietly shape his entire life.
- A father's backyard test — an apple shot from his son's head, a single question asked — introduces the show's moral spine: courage is not the absence of fear, but the refusal to flinch before it.
- The tension sharpens when adult John, played by Aaron Pierre, finds himself in a car beside the legend he once worshipped — Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan now a reluctant trainer, the magic of distance replaced by the friction of proximity.
- Lanterns premieres August 16 on HBO and HBO Max with eight weekly episodes, positioning itself as a cornerstone of Gunn's reimagined DC Universe.
In the days before its August 16 premiere, HBO offered the world its first glimpse of Lanterns — a series that asks, through the shared mythology of two Green Lanterns, what it means to be chosen for something larger than oneself. The footage traces a bond between Hal Jordan and John Stewart that begins in childhood wonder and arrives, years later, at the complicated terrain of mentorship. James Gunn's DC Universe enters live-action with a question older than any superhero story: are you afraid?
HBO released the opening five minutes of Lanterns this week, giving audiences their first real look at the emotional foundation of its new Green Lantern series before its August 16 debut.
The clip begins with a young John Stewart watching television, captivated by news footage of a man in green stopping a meteor above Victoria Falls. That man is Hal Jordan — played here by a de-aged Kyle Chandler — making his public debut as Green Lantern in 1986. For the boy at home, Hal is not merely a superhero. He is proof that ordinary people can be chosen for something extraordinary.
The mood shifts when John's father arrives and finds his son still fixed to the screen. He takes him to the backyard, shoots an apple from his head, and asks a single question: "Are you afraid?" The same question, the footage implies, that was once asked of Hal Jordan himself. John does not flinch. The question lingers.
Years later, John Stewart — now played by Aaron Pierre — sits in a car beside the very man he watched on television as a child. Hal Jordan is no longer a rising legend; he is a veteran, reluctantly training his successor. The wonder of childhood admiration has given way to something quieter and more complicated. John's expression in those final moments holds no excitement — only a muted resignation that the distance between idol and reality has finally, irreversibly, closed.
The preview arrives as part of James Gunn's broader reimagining of the DC Universe, and sets the series' central tension plainly: two men bound by the same ring, the same question, and the vast, unspoken space between inspiration and truth. Eight episodes follow, releasing weekly.
HBO released the opening five minutes of Lanterns online this week, offering the first real look at how the show will weave together the origin stories of its two central characters. The footage establishes a foundational connection between Hal Jordan and John Stewart that stretches back decades—a relationship built on admiration, duty, and the weight of a question that defines what it means to wear the ring.
The clip opens on young John Stewart watching television, transfixed by news coverage of a man in a green suit stopping a meteor from destroying Victoria Falls. That man is Hal Jordan, making his public debut as Green Lantern in 1986. Kyle Chandler plays the veteran hero in this sequence, de-aged to show him at the height of his powers and fame. For the boy watching from home, Hal is not just a superhero—he is the superhero, the one who proved that ordinary people could be chosen for extraordinary things.
When John's father arrives home and finds his son still glued to the screen, the mood shifts. The father is not pleased. He orders John outside to the backyard and poses a single question before shooting an apple off his son's head: "Are you afraid?" The same question, the footage suggests, that was asked of Hal Jordan when he was first chosen by the Green Lantern Corps. John does not flinch. The implication is clear—this is not the first time his father has tested him this way. The apple falls. The question hangs in the air.
Years later, John Stewart, now played by Aaron Pierre, finds himself in a car with the very man he once watched on television. Hal Jordan is no longer a legend in the making; he is a veteran, reluctantly training his replacement. The show's central dynamic emerges in this moment: the student who grew up idolizing the master, now forced to work alongside him, discovering that proximity to a hero is not the same as connection. John's face in those final seconds shows no excitement, only a kind of muted resignation. The man he spent his childhood admiring is now his trainer, and whatever magic that distance once held has evaporated.
The five-minute preview arrives just days before Lanterns makes its full debut on HBO and HBO Max on Sunday, August 16, at 9 PM ET. The first episode will air that night, with seven more episodes following on a weekly schedule. This is the first live-action Green Lantern project from DC since Ryan Reynolds' 2011 film, and it arrives as part of James Gunn's broader reimagining of the DC Universe. By releasing this opening sequence ahead of the premiere, HBO is laying bare the emotional architecture of the show: two men separated by generation and experience, bound together by the same impossible question, the same impossible power.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
Are you afraid?— The question asked of both Hal Jordan when chosen as Green Lantern and later posed by John Stewart's father
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