LANTERNS Scores a Massive HBO Max Debut and Outpaces THE PENGUIN
DC Studios has a new hit on its hands. Lanterns premiered on HBO and HBO Max this past weekend, and the Green Lantern series came flying out of the gate with numbers that topped the debut of one of DC's biggest recent TV successes, The Penguin.
Lanterns pulled in 9.3 million viewers worldwide across HBO and HBO Max during its first three days, according to Variety and Deadline. Of that total, 6.6 million viewers came from the U.S.
That's an impressive opening, especially when compared with The Penguin. The series, which takes place in the Elseworlds universe of The Batman, reached 10.4 million viewers after 11 days. Lanterns is already closing in on that number after only three.
Variety reports that Lanterns delivered “the biggest premiere for a DC Studios show on HBO Max to date and one of the top five premieres on the platform overall.”
Those aren't House of the Dragon numbers, but they don't need to be. For a DC series introducing audiences to a very different corner of the franchise, 9.3 million viewers in three days is a killer start.
The comparison between the two DC shows is also interesting because they belong to different universes. The Penguin exists within Matt Reeves' The Batman world, while Lanterns is part of the main DC Universe being built by DC Studios.
There also haven't been a ton of live-action DC Studios series to compare it against. Along with Lanterns and The Penguin, there's Peacemaker. Still, HBO Max celebrating the numbers this early is a good sign for the future of the series.
That becomes even more interesting when you consider that showrunner Chris Mundy is already working out ideas for Season 2. HBO hasn't officially renewed Lanterns yet, but Mundy recently revealed that he's begun breaking a potential second season.
With premiere numbers like these, he's certainly got a strong argument for keeping those plans moving forward.
Season 1 stars Kyle Chandler as veteran Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre as new recruit John Stewart. The story follows the two Lanterns at different points in time as they investigate a strange crime with alien connections in small-town Nebraska.
Rather than going straight for a massive cosmic Green Lantern adventure, Lanterns brings the mythology down to Earth and wraps it around a mystery. Now millions of viewers have shown up to see where that mystery goes.
The big question is whether Lanterns can keep that audience coming back as the season unfolds. Its premiere has already given DC Studios plenty to celebrate, and if the numbers hold, Hal Jordan and John Stewart could be sticking around HBO Max for quite a while.