Spoilers ahead for the premiere episode of Lanterns.
We're still early into the newly formed DCEU, with co-CEO James Gunn releasing a variety of projects on the silver screen and on HBO (and streaming with a HBO Max subscription). Folks who have been watching the DC movies in order were just treated to the first episode of Lanterns, and I can't get over how the Green Lantern signature ring was used in one sequence in particular.
What we know about Lanterns has been limited, but it's the next part the first slate of projects titled Gods and Monsters. In Episode 1 Aaron Pierre's John Stewart has sex in a car with Poorna Jagannathan's character Zoe, and afterward lights her post-coital cigarette with the Power Ring. When speaking with the cast ahead of the show's premiere, I had to ask the Deli Boys actress about this steamy way of interacting with the Green Lantern Corps.' powerful weapon. She told me:
I'm gonna go back and use your word. Uh, when I read it, I was like, 'That's iconic.' And my best friend who Garrett knows, Sarita, is like, 'You gotta get that cigarette out with your mouth. Do not pick it out.' So, you know, that was all, that, that was a lot of practice as well. It was so funny. When I read that scene I was cracking up. It's iconic.
From early on in Lanterns it's clear that his is a very different type of superhero show. The show feels akin to creator Chris Mundy's other project like Ozark, combining a crime drama with the comic book genre. The fact that John Stewart has vehicular relations with a stranger in the premiere is just one example of this more adult-oriented tone. And using a Power Ring to light an after sex cigarette was a surprisingly steamy cherry on top of the cake.
Later in our conversation, Poorna Jagannathan spoke about filming that scene with co-star Aaron Pierre. It turns out it was very early in her tenure playing Zoe, which adds another dynamic to the scene. She told me:
I mean, Aaron is the consummate professional, you know, always making sure that everyone around him, definitely me, felt very, very safe and secure. That was [director] James Hawes. I think that was also one of my first few days, if not my first day. So it's always fun to do that scene on your first day. It's an icebreaker.
Talk about jumping into a new job with both feet. Jagannathan and Pierre spent a ton of time together filming that car scene, and it sounds like they really got to know each other in the process. She said they spent that time talking about their lives, and it sounds like it was overall a positive experience. And I have to assume that only helped the pair of actor's chemistry as they continued to film Lanterns and flesh out John and Zoe's relationship.
Lanterns airs new episodes Sundays on HBO as part of the 2026 TV schedule. While the show got some backlash about the trailer not being green enough, the ways that Hal Jordan and John Stewart use the Green Lantern ring has already been memorable.
