Grant Morrison admits they nodded off during two episodes of Lanterns. Oddly enough, that turns out to be the kindest thing in their take on the show.
Writing on their Xanaduum Substack, the longtime DC writer, known for The Green Lantern and Doom Patrol, gave HBO’s new DCU series a thorough breakdown. Overall, they say the show “worked.” The way it wrapped up was another matter entirely.
Spoiler warning: what follows discusses the Lanterns Season 1 finale.
The ending they can’t get past
While admitting the finale was “neatly put together,” Morrison said they “didn’t really like the ending.” Their main complaint centers on Sheriff Kerry, played by Kelly Macdonald, who is revealed in the closing moments as the person who kills Hal Jordan. Fans were already divided over that twist.
It’s a tense sequence. After Hal learns that Noah, Kerry’s son, is really a Manhunter in disguise, Kerry shoots him once. Hal manages to lay out half a plan and squeeze in a quick “I love you” before his time in the DCU ends. Many viewers have taken issue with how the moment was staged. For Morrison, the real problem is that “everyone seemed fine with that psychotic break.”
“There should probably have been some response to that, because otherwise it makes it really hard for the audience to work out what makes the Green Lantern Corps an intergalactic law enforcement agency at all,” Morrison said. “The Guardians are now fine with their operatives being murdered while other officers simply ignore the fact and let the perps walk free?”
It’s a solid point. Green Lantern is built on the idea of police officers in space, yet the finale allows someone who killed one of those officers to go free.
Tom King’s defense didn’t land
Tom King, who writes Lanterns and is a comic book author in his own right, has already responded to the backlash. In King’s view, Kerry living with the weight of what she did serves as punishment enough. Morrison doesn’t accept that reasoning.
“I watched the show; Kerry lost her shit in a way that made her seem unhinged and she shot a superhero in the head out of pique,” Morrison said. “John Stewart also let the Manhunter go free, knowing that he could one day destroy the world. For a show that’s not about masked vigilantes with their own personal code but deals with weird space policemen working for an interplanetary judiciary, it was a morally and legally incoherent conclusion that backed out of its own implications and the basic premise of the franchise.”
Note that second sentence. Kerry isn’t Morrison’s only target here; John Stewart also allows a threat capable of ending the world to walk away.
What the show got right
Morrison’s review wasn’t all criticism, though. They said they “fell asleep” during episodes 6 and 7, but stressed it was “not because they were boring.” For them, watching TV “feels like a much-appreciated moment of relaxation and drift.” (Anyone who has drifted off on the sofa halfway through a prestige drama will get it.)
In Morrison’s view, the series largely succeeds with its True Detective-style storytelling, and they give the credit to two actors: Aaron Pierre as John Stewart and Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan.
“Lanterns worked as a show and it’s mostly down to the two leads, particularly Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan,” Morrison said. “They have a great supporting cast which helps, but it’s the two principals and their chemistry and charisma that sells the whole thing,” they continued, then admitted, “so maybe those True Detective comparisons had some basis after all!”
The Season 2 problem
That compliment points to another weakness in the finale. Chandler was the show’s standout, and the ending wrote him out.
Word is that HBO has Lanterns Season 2 in early development. The villain Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen) in particular has dropped hints that Chandler might return as Parallax. Still, without Hal Jordan, the show could lose half of what made so many viewers fall for it. Pierre is excellent, but without that partnership it’s anyone’s guess whether a second season can stick the landing like the first.
Morrison isn’t sounding hopeful. “We’ll see,” they said.
For now, Morrison is stepping away from DC for their next comic project. IDW Publishing announced at New York Comic Con 2026 that Morrison will write a new James Bond run. There’s no word yet on where the series will sit within the 007 universe. Still, a character with a license to kill could suit a writer who’s this unhappy about a killer getting away with it.