'Lanterns' Creator Explains Episode 1 Shocking Death
The creator explains that the team decided to avoid a conventional exit for Hal Jordan and instead went with a twist that has consequences for John Stewart.
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Warning: The text below contains spoilers for the first episode of Lanterns.
Damon Lindelof, creator of Lanterns, explained the decision to kill off Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) in the very first episode of the new HBO and DC series. Recapping the ending: the character is found dead and frozen by John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) after a ten-year time jump, in a twist with strong emotional impact that will be key to the story’s development.
According to Lindelof, the death was designed to provoke sadness, anger, and confusion in the audience, especially after more than a decade of waiting for Hal Jordan’s return to the screen. “Because those are the feelings people have when someone they care about dies. There will be some short-term anger and dissatisfaction, which is understandable. People waited more than a decade to see Hal Jordan back on screen and, suddenly, he’s a frozen corpse. But what matters most is how they feel by the end of episode 8 and whether they felt that this twist was necessary for the story’s development.”
Lindelof also explained that the team did not want to simply retire Hal. In his view, a conventional exit, such as the hero walking away from crime-fighting, would not make sense for the character. “Hal Jordan isn’t going to retire to Florida,” he joked. The idea of killing him came precisely from the desire to make the series bring about real changes in its characters, avoiding the feeling that, after a great adventure, “nothing really changed.” In addition, according to the team, Hal Jordan’s death was intended to drive John Stewart’s development.
The decision was also discussed with Tom King, the series’ co-creator, who defended the impact of the choice within the new DC Universe. “We really want to make it clear [...] that ‘Yes, this matters. This is important,’” King said. For the two of them, Hal’s death works as a promise that Lanterns will not be just a standalone production, but will carry weight in building the new DCU.
New episodes of Lanterns are released weekly on Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.
