‘Lanterns’ Release Date Has Reportedly Been Delayed (Man...)

Of all the projects in James Gunn’s burgeoning DCU, Lanterns has been the most intriguing. It has everything going for it: Damon Lindelof, who absolutely crushed Watchmen; renowned comics scribe Tom King; and a stellar cast in Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre as Hal Jordan and John Stewart respectively. The HBO series will focus on the titular Green Lanterns as the space cops solve an earth-bound case that will undoubtedly be more than it seems.

Earlier this year, Gunn and Peter Safran told Deadline that “they could safely say [Lanterns] will premiere in early 2026.” However, a trailer has yet to emerge for the HBO series, and the usually talkative Gunn has been tight-lipped about the project. Well, there might be a reason for that.

An October newsletter for THR’s Heat Vision contained an eyebrow-raising line about Peacemaker Season 2: “The finale will mark the last of the Gunn-verse we’ll see until June’s Supergirl.” For those familiar with how calendars work, June 26 is definitely not “early 2026.” According to Comic Book, the Green Lanterns Podcast reached out to THR for clarification and got this response: “You are quite the eagle-eyed reader. Yes, we expect Lanterns will now come after Supergirl.”

For the record, we’ve heard nothing official from Gunn or DC Studios, so Lanterns could still be on track for an earlier release date than Summer 2026. Hopefully so, because things will get very crowded for the DCU. Not only does Supergirl drop in June, but Clayface is set to hit theaters in September. That’s a pretty clogged window if Lanterns hits between those projects. Over-saturation is what doomed Marvel, and this release strategy is very close to touching that stove.

That said, pushing Lanterns later does make sense, and Marvel is a factor. Both Wonder Man and Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 are set to hit Disney+ in January and March. That’s also way too many superhero shows at once if Lanterns enters the same window.

Considering Marvel doesn’t have anything else in the tank for 2026, it would not be the worst move for DC Studios to cede the first part of the year before dominating the back half. Moving Lanterns to after Clayface would also alleviate the overcrowding problem, but that means we could be waiting a full year to see the Lindelof series. Dangit.