We have been waiting for positive updates about the upcoming Max series, Lanterns. In a recent interview with Collider, showrunner Poorna Jagannathan said the gift has arrived. Filming officially kicks off this week--not June 2025, as we were first told.
“This is the first script that I’ve read that I understand why there’s an NDA,” she said. “Everything is so insane. It is the best writing that I have ever read.”
Gulp! This promises to be an amazing series and a triumphant return for a hallowed comic that gets far too little interest from casual fans. Yes, the Ryan Reynolds movie was abysmal, and there are countless reasons why. But, for Lanterns to be on James Gunn's "Phase One" about "Gods and Monsters," we are definitely going to get our money's worth.
When James Gunn announced the DC Studios slate for Phase One, he shared that Lanterns will be about a "terrifying mystery" that ties to the entire franchise, but it focuses on Earth.
We already know about three of the "green" lanterns: Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan, Aaron Pierre as John Stewart, and Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner. However, this is called Lanterns, not "Green Lantern." There are more colors of this complex rainbow to see. Do we really know what they all mean and how they will play out in this captivating series?
Let's delve into the universe created by Martin Nodell, Gil Kane, and Bill Finger and explore the psychology of colors in the Lantern Corps.
How the Lanterns light up DC Comics
Since 1940, DC Comics has been mesmerized with color. If acrostics are your thing, you'll see all the colors of the rainbow there. Where are my first graders? ROY G BIV makes up the Lanterns universe. Only now, there are three newer colors that are possibly more dangerous than those found inside the rainbow.
When two of the most satisfying comic series of DC Comics-- "Sinestro Corps War" (2007) and "Blackest Night" (2009)--Geoff Johns spoke about the prism of Lanterns that make up the Corps.
They’re the fulcrum. So if you look at ROY G BIV [a mnemonic for the colors of the spectrum] on a line and it’s balancing on the tip of a pin, swaying a little bit-green is the center that doesn’t move...I do believe there’s something to being sentient and aware of your surroundings. We’re not just rocks. We’re moving around of our own will...When we got more sophisticated and our emotions started to change, we felt fear and survival through fear, which gave off another invisible aura that could be condensed and collected into a yellow light. And it goes on into rage, avarice, hope, compassion, and love."
Red Lanterns
Welcome to the serial killer's favorite piece of jewelry. Red Lantern rings are fueled by rage. They were created by a dominant figure in Lantern lore named Atrocitus. And get this: when the Guardians caught him (with the help of the robotic Manhunters) and threw away the key, it was Space Sector 666. It was hate that kept him alive and revenge that created the need for the Red Ring. Their oath is just as convincing.
"With blood and rage of crimson red, ripped from a corpse so freshly dead, together with our hellish hate, we'll burn you all, that is your Fate!"
Orange Lanterns
Discovered by a mischievous group, the Controllers, who craved the power of the Guardians, the orange light was found on the planet Okaara. It's fitting what brought them to that foreign planet because orange is the color of greed or avarice. Larfleeze, the diabolical and immortal leader, is ever-present. Even the rings are greedy for power because they can absorb the raw emotion of other ring colors. Get how consuming their oath is...
"This power is mine, this is my light. Be it bright of day, or black of night. I lay claim to all that lays within my sight. To take what I want, that is my right!"
Yellow Lanterns
One of the only redeeming qualities of the initial Green Lantern movie was the post-credits scene. Mark Strong took care of being Sinestro. It's a shame he didn't get the spotlight, but then again, it was in that movie. If Hal Jordan and John Stewart had an archnemesis, it would be the yellow color of fear, mastered by Sinestro. If will isn't strong enough, fear is inevitable. Fear consumed him for his strength, but for all other Lanterns, it's to their peril, as Sinestro said in the oath.
"In blackest day, in brightest night, Beware your fears made into light. Let those who try to stop what's right, Burn like my power… Sinestro's might!"
Green Lanterns
Arguably, the strongest group in the Lantern Corps is green, symbolizing the power of will and determination. Green is considered the most powerful of all emotions among the Corps and is used to overcome fear, rage, and any other emotion on the Lantern spectrum. Most of the gleaming Lanterns we know are green, like Hal, Guy, and John. Most heroic qualities are sparked and supported by willpower and strengthened by their oath.
"In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight! Let those who worship evil's might, beware my power, Green Lantern's light!"
Indigo Lanterns
Although these Lanterns are motivated by compassion, they prefer to be called the Indigo Tribe--in English or their exclusive alien vernacular. Here's the ironic thing: the Indigo Tribe is made of sadists, cold-blooded killers, and hateful people. Yet, the Indigo rings found each of them, and now, they feel remorse for the sins of the past. Sure, that sounds like a real bummer carrying that burden into war, but we didn't create them. And there's no telling what their oath says anyway, but it is connected to a GOATed Green Lantern.
"Tor lorek san, bor nakka mur, Natromo faan tornek wot ur, Ter lantern ker lo Abin Sur, Taan lek lek nok -- Formorrow Sur!"
Blue Lanterns
If you count on willpower, you have hope in yourself, which is why the Blue Lantern Corps are the closest ally to the Green Lanterns. If any ring chooses a person for emotional strength, it's the blue ring. They want to uphold other lanterns, not replace them in battle. The Blue Lanterns are known as some of the most loyal in the Corps, given their almost dogmatic stance on belief in people and how to see the good in them. Make no mistake, their oath says they aren't easily swayed.
"In fearful day, in raging night, with strong hearts full, our souls ignite! When all seems lost in the War of Light, look to the stars, for hope burns bright!"
Violet Lanterns
There have been countless songs on the power of Love, and it's been known to help people fight in Hallmark movies, but what can the Violet Lanterns do? First, they are the Star Sapphires. They are an all-female corps with some devastating strength. They can teleport and make this disorienting dust when they bounce a scene. However, their greatest strength is their greatest weakness. It sounds cheesy, but the power of love can even overwhelm a Sapphire in the heat of battle. So there's that.
"For hearts long lost and full of fright, for those alone in blackestnight, accept our ring and join our fight—Love Conquers All—with violet light! "
White Lanterns
The three newest colors of the Lanterns' prism of emotion start here. White makes the rings of life. They can protect and even bring back the dead (within particular canonical reasons). Created during a siege of Umbrax, it was the only thing that broke its sardonic hold on the universe. The White Light of Life is omnipotent. Geoff Johns' "Blackest Night" was powerful, and Kyle Rayner (formerly green) learned to master the white light. And the white oath? Just as powerful.
"Live."
Black Lanterns
This color doesn't represent an emotion but a state of being. It's the opposite of the white ring. Of course, the Black Lanterns embody death. In this case, it is the absence of all emotion. Black Lanterns are so powerful. Nekron, the Lord of the Unliving, created the Black Lanterns to take over and sack the Emotional Spectrum. The only way to have a chance against them is to combine a White Lantern's ring with another color, and good luck with that if you have read Blackest Night.
"The Blackest Night falls from the skies. The darkness grows as all light dies. We crave your hearts and your demise. By my Black Hand, the dead shall rise!"
Ultraviolet Lanterns
This is easily the most fascinating "color" among all Lanterns because the ultraviolet ring harnesses the power of repressed emotions or hidden feelings. That's a great connection because the Ultraviolet Lanterns are in the "Invisible" Emotional Spectrum. Controlled by Umbrax (a sentient sun of a phantom galaxy), the Ultraviolet Lantern Corps don't even have rings--they have tattoos on their ring fingers, so there is no finding a new champion. Working in the unseen has a devastating effect.
"By shield of day, and shield of night, we feed and grow, beyond all sight your darkest self shall be our knight, wield the sword of unseen light!"