LANTERNS Series Director James Hawes Says of the Tone of the DC Comics Show - "It Doesn't Lack Its Sci-Fi Magic"

British director James Hawes has worked on some great TV series in the past, including Doctor Who, Genius, The Alienist, Black Mirror, Slow Horses and more. He is about to take on something completely different with the upcoming DC Comic series, Lanterns, at HBO/Max.

While talking about some of his upcoming projects with Collider, Hawes talked about his vision for the series, and how he came to direct the project, saying, "I’ve worked with the team at HBO Max three times before. I set up Snowpiercer with Sarah Aubrey and Joey Chavez, and I'd worked with them on The Alienist and Raised by Wolves."

He continued: "There is a very particular humor that they brought to this. It's very rooted in a way that I like to think we achieve with Slow Horses, that I achieve with things like my Black Mirror's, and yet there is a rich vein of humor running through it.

“So, again, it was about that tone. I'm such a huge fan of Damon [Lindelof] and Chris [Mundy] and the writing that they've done in the past."

"Listen, it all starts from the script," the director offered. "When you turn those pages, can you get the smell of it? You always find a scene or two that you think, 'I can't wait to be stood beside the camera and the cast, directing this scene on the day.'

“If that happens on turning the pages, you know this is something you have to take seriously, and that absolutely happened with Lanterns. To some extent, it's a swerve. Superheroes are not somewhere I've really played before, but it's created in such a way—and I can't tell you much—that it bewitched me."

Hawes went on to discuss the series' grounded tone, which is a departure from the star-spanning outer space adventures from the Green Lantern comic books.

"It doesn't lack its sci-fi magic, but it's done in a world where you accept that these things just are. They don't need that extra sprinkle of sci-fi fairy dust. It works within a physical world that we've come to know."

I love the casting of this series, and I like what I’ve heard and seen so far. Lanterns is set to hit HBO Max in 2026, so stay tuned for updates on the series as it develops.