RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Logo text [This story contains major spoilers for Lanterns ' "Pilot."]
The flash-forward that closes the Lanterns series premiere was bound to strike a familiar chord with Kyle Chandler completists. It's reminiscent of another recent high-profile series in which one of his characters meets a prematurely shocking end. Chandler himself may have momentarily wondered whether he was being offered another Mayor of Kingstown -type opportunity. But showrunner Chris Mundy, together with co-creators Damon Lindelof and Tom King, quickly reassured him that this particular twist would more closely resemble the storytelling of Bloodline , the earlier series Mundy and Chandler had worked on together. Related Stories TV How Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan in 'Lanterns' Series Will Compare to Ryan Reynolds' Take on Green Lantern TV 'Lanterns' Review: Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre's Chemistry Helps HBO's Clever Action-Comedy Transcend Lackluster Superhero Backdrop
The pilot — directed by James Hawes and co-written by Mundy, Lindelof, and King — establishes the DC/HBO series' multi-timeline structure. It introduces childhood flashbacks, a primary timeline set in 2016 and a future 2026 timeline, one where Aaron Pierre 's John Stewart and Rushville, Nebraska sheriff Kerry Kane (Kelly Macdonald) investigate the murder of Chandler's Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, on the same high-school football field where the three of them had worked another murder case a decade earlier. Like Bloodline 's own inciting murder, this series will gradually catch the audience up to speed as to how the ring-powered space cop wound up catching a bullet.
For Chandler, the bigger challenge was block-shooting a nonlinear series without having all the scripts available at first. If you're unfamiliar with shooting in blocks, it's basically when a production films multiple episodes at the same time in order to shoot out a location.
"The full storyline wasn't in front of us; it was described to us. [Block-shooting] required a lot of faith and trust in the storyline," Chandler tells The Hollywood Reporter . "As far as the way they started it out [with Hal's death], I thought it was a clever way of doing it and making it a non-linear story. I like the way it came out. It gave us a chance to set up our own traps and to go against the material sometimes to reveal more, or less, later. So it's like 3D chess."
Pierre, who's already reprised the role of his aspiring Green Lantern in DCU architect James Gunn 's upcoming Man of Tomorrow , advanced through 2024's audition process as his performance in Jeremy Saulnier's Rebel Ridge was earning rave reviews. Yet unlike his fearless Green Lantern trainee, he still felt considerable apprehension just as his career was taking flight.
"I immediately recognized the enormity of the opportunity and the gift that it is to engage with, first and foremost, this character and this world. And being the first live-action [John Stewart] is also something that I recognize the magnitude of," Pierre says. "So it was very nerve-wracking, but I have a history and a habit of intentionally seeking out things that unnerve me."
Having never worked in the comic-book genre before, Chandler was surprised to find himself cast as a superhero at 60. So he soon became aware of the pressure to satisfy an already passionate fanbase with sky-high expectations.
"Before I went to [San Diego] Comic-Con, a lot of people were saying, 'Well, what are the true aficionados going to think of your presentation? You better do a good job.' Luckily, I don't pay attention to any of that. I don't go on any of these web sites and read any of that stuff, so they can call me what they want and I won't know," Chandler shares. "But there was a little [concern of], How am I going to do this to please people? Then I finally realized, I can't please anyone, so I have to do it myself . That gave me the freedom to be myself, and that gave me the freedom to make it as raw as I wanted it to be. Damn the torpedoes, let's see what happens ."
It's a particularly strange time for the superhero industrial complex's endeavors on TV and streaming platforms. One day, an acclaimed, Emmy-nominated series can be renewed, and the next day, it can be inexplicably un-renewed. At this current juncture, Mundy and Halt and Catch Fire co-creator Christopher Cantwell are provisionally breaking story in the season two writers room, but neither Chandler nor Pierre are getting ahead of themselves until they officially get the green light from the studio/network.
"Whatever happens will happen. Whatever is meant to be will be," Pierre says. "Of course, we would love to go again and again. We love this show. All of us poured so much into this that, whatever happens, we are at peace with it because we are just all so very proud of it."
Below, during a conversation with THR , Pierre also discusses how he balanced the contrast between John's calm external presentation and his inner turmoil from childhood.
AARON PIERRE You were right the first time.
( Pierre and Kyle Chandler laugh. They'd already been ribbing each other prior to the start of this interview .)
KYLE CHANDLER ( Joking about Pierre's physical advantage over him .) This guy is actually sitting on two phonebooks right now. That's how little he is. He's nervous for this interview.
PIERRE ( Laughing and pointing to his upper body .) I've also got padding in here.
Kyle, I've been watching you since the days when a cat delivered your newspaper a day early on Early Edition , and that ordinary guy with a head start on tomorrow's news was probably the closest you've come to playing a superhero. But is it safe to say that you never expected a bona fide superhero like Hal Jordan to come your way?
CHANDLER It's very safe to assume that, yeah. It's safe to assume that I didn't expect a script to come — and the likes of James Gunn and these guys [co-creators Chris Mundy, Tom King, Damon Lindelof] to ask if I wanted to be the ...
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