(Image Credits: DC Studios)
DC Studios’ upcoming Lanterns series has recently been receiving backlash over a variety of issues, and while the show remains one of the DCU’s most anticipated, the show’s recent tagline reveal has fans worrying about how the show will handle the iconic characters.
Why are fans upset about Lanterns’ new tagline?
Recently, DC Studios revealed a new poster for the upcoming HBO show, highlighting the power ring in its entirety. The tagline for the poster, though, is what fans quickly took issue with. The tagline for the show reads “Only one can wear the ring,” a potential nod to the fact that Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) is training John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) to take his ring.
#Lanterns is coming this August to @hbomax. pic.twitter.com/Pyoc5udNey— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) April 23, 2026
However, fans were quick to criticize the tagline, wondering why it’s being phrased in the way it is. While the Green Lantern comics have traditionally had specific members of the Lantern Corps stationed in specific “sectors” of the universe, there’s never been an instance in where only one Lantern is wearing a ring. Even in DC Studios’ DCU, Guy Gardner (played by Nathan Fillion in Superman) exists, and is seemingly one of several Lanterns tasked with guarding Earth’s sector.
With Lanterns also set to have two other guardians in the form of Jordan and Stewart, it begs the question of what exactly the tagline means. Most likely, it’s a metaphorical statement, and will symbolize the internal struggle that Jordan will likely face in the show as he doesn’t seem ready to pass on the torch (and his ring) of the Lanterns onto Stewart. However, fans took this as yet another sign that the creative team behind the show might not get the source material they are adapting.
This isn’t the first time the DCU show has raised the eyebrow of fans, either. In 2024, Damon Lindelof (who co-created and wrote the show) made a joke about why the show was called Lanterns, noting that the team behind the show “agreed that the green” in the title was “stupid.” Although an obvious joke, this did predictably make fans of the show, and even creatives, angry. Grant Morrison, the Scottish legend who has written several of Green Lantern’s most iconic stories, criticized the joke, saying it did nothing but alienate the fanbase before the show even had a chance to come out.
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Earlier this year, Lindelof apologized for the joke, and said he was simply trying to make a dumb joke before explaining how much the Green Lantern world meant to him. “I was sloppy and careless with my words, ironic considering I care so much about Hal, John, and the entire Corps. I can and will do better to be worthy of the oath . . . until then, I’ll let the show speak for itself, and I can’t wait for you all to hear what it has to say,” Lindelof wrote in an Instagram post.
To his credit, Lindelof should probably be given the benefit of the doubt. The creative is behind some of the best television shows ever created, including Lost, The Leftovers, and a recent adaptation of DC’s The Watchmen. DC’s own Tom King, as well as writer Chris Mundy, are attached to the show, making it a superstar team of creatives that should have fans more excited than anything. However, there is still the growing concern that the show will fail to live up to the incredible history the comic book series has produced.
