We're getting deeper into the newly formed DCU, which co-CEO James Gunn has methodically crafted. The latest installment from phase one, aka Gods and Monsters, is the Lanterns series, which is available on HBO (and streaming with an HBO Max subscription). The Green Lantern Corps is back on our screens, but would Ryan Reynolds ever return to the franchise? Here's what the actor recently said, including the potential to cameo in the DC series.
What we know about Lanterns has been limited, but we're already a few episodes into this wild new series. Ryan Reynolds' Green Lantern movie was a notorious flop, but it's come back up thanks to the HBO series. In a clip from ET's TikTok, the Deadpool star was asked if he's going to make a cameo in Lanterns, to which he said:
I would totally do a cameo in that. I love it. I mean, you know, I learned so much making that movie. And I know what you’re thinking, ‘Oh, learned what not to do.’ In part, yes, but also, anytime you make something that large there are core lessons that come of it. And I owe my entire career to that movie. I owe everything to that.
Despite how Deadpool 2 joked about Green Lantern, and the countless times Reynolds has poked fun at it over the years, it's interesting to hear the silver lining about the actor/writer's experience. While the movie was not a success, it was clearly a good learning experience, and he even admits that he owes a lot to the DC blockbuster.
While Ryan Reynolds seems like he'd be down to cameo in Lanterns, it seems unlikely that it'll happen in the show's first season. Either that or he's really good at keeping secrets. Superhero actors are known for this; just look at how Andrew Garfield lied about his Spider-Man: No Way Home role ahead of its release.
Obviously, Reynolds wouldn't be able to play Hal Jordan on Lanterns, that role is being played by Kyle Chandler. But maybe he could be a fan on Earth, or even voice one of the alien members of the Green Lantern Corps. if they ever show up. Right now the show has mostly been a detective series that happens to feature a superhero or two.
Despite focusing on the same intergalactic law enforcement group, the Green Lantern movie and Lanterns couldn't feel more different. The series is less of a traditional superhero story and more of a gritty and realistic crime drama. It feels more like showrunner Chris Mundy's other shows like Ozark, but with a comic book twist. We'll just have to see if the story gets more cosmic as time goes on.
Lanterns airs new episodes on Sundays on HBO as part of the 2026 TV schedule. The streaming service is also the home of the Green Lantern movie and all things DC.
