History made: 'Lanterns' lands a dream debut after 'Supergirl' and DCU heartbreak
After a rough big-screen run, DC just scored a real streaming win — Lanterns set an HBO Max record and carved its own place in franchise history.
Warner Bros. Discovery says Lanterns opened to a roaring start: 9.3 million views across HBO and HBO Max in its first three days, the biggest launch for a DC Studios series on the platform so far and one of HBO Max’s five largest premieres ever. In the U.S. alone, the drama pulled in 6.6 million viewers over that same 72-hour window.
9.3 million views in the first 3 days across HBO and HBO Max, per Warner Bros. Discovery.
By the numbers
The early heat puts the new series ahead of several recent high-profile debuts. The Penguin climbed to 10.4 million viewers across platforms, but needed 11 days to get there; It: Welcome to Derry drew 5.7 million in its first three days. By crossing the 9 million mark out of the gate, Lanterns planted a flag as a top performer for HBO Max right away.
A darker Green Lantern
Set inside James Gunn ’s new DC Universe, the show plants two iconic Green Lanterns firmly on Earth. Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart teams with Kyle Chandler’s Hal Jordan to investigate a murder in the American heartland—a grounded, grim mystery that starts small and widens into a larger conspiracy tied to the wider DCU. The tone leans more crime drama than space opera, drawing comparisons to the likes of True Detective and Slow Horses.
The series also plays up the contrast between its leads: Jordan is a worn-down veteran questioning where he fits, while Stewart arrives with a cleaner slate and something to prove. The first season spans eight episodes and threads together a terrestrial whodunit with intergalactic stakes.
Here’s the ensemble around the two Lanterns:
- Aaron Pierre — John Stewart
- Kyle Chandler — Hal Jordan
- Ulrich Thomsen — Sinestro
- Kelly Macdonald
- Garret Dillahunt
- Poorna Jagannathan
- Jason Ritter
- Laura Linney
- Nicole Ari Parker
- Jasmine Cephas Jones
- Sherman Augustus
- J. Alphonse Nicholson
Some characters appear across different timelines as the investigation unfolds. The first season runs eight episodes.