LANTERNS Writers Ask Fans to Trust Its Shocking Hal Jordan Twist and Are “Willing to Absorb the Boos”

Damon Lindelof knows the death of Hal Jordan in the premiere of Lanterns is going to piss off a lot of Green Lantern fans. In fact, that reaction was one of the reasons he initially thought killing Hal was a terrible idea.

But Lindelof and the rest of the creative team are asking viewers to stick with them through all eight episodes before deciding whether Kyle Chandler's shockingly short run as Hal Jordan was worth it.

Lindelof has spent plenty of time putting audiences through the emotional wringer with shows like Lost, The Leftovers, and Watchmen, but the first episode of Lanterns pulls off a move that even longtime DC fans probably weren't expecting. Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan is dead, which some fans saw coming.

Speaking with Collider about the huge premiere twist, Lindelof explained that he initially pushed back against the idea because he worried it would come across as a cheap stunt.

"We can't do that, everyone is gonna hate us and it feels gimmicky," Lindelof said. "But [showrunner Chris Mundy] was like, 'I don't feel that it's gimmicky. I think that it will actually infuse the entire story with a lot of emotionality, especially if the audience understands that John and Hal were not in a good place at the time that Hal died.'"

Lindelof said the writers "gradually" came around to the idea, knowing full well that "a lot of people are going to be angry."

It's easy to understand why. Fans have waited years to see Hal Jordan return to live-action after Ryan Reynolds' 2011 Green Lantern movie, and Chandler's casting offered a completely different version of the veteran Lantern. Then, roughly 50 minutes into the new series, he's gone.

Lindelof knew exactly what kind of response that was going to generate. "'I waited this long for another live-action version of Hal, having not gotten him since the Ryan Reynolds film, and then basically 50 minutes after getting me to fall in love with Kyle Chandler, you're killing him off? F*ck you.'“

Rather than trying to convince angry fans immediately, Lindelof wants the complete season to make the case for them. The writers apparently knew they were setting themselves up for some serious heat with Episode 1, and they're prepared to take it.

"I guess our feeling is, let's see how you feel at the end of Episode 8, and if you still feel like it was exploitative or unnecessary, or that it wasn't exactly what had to happen in order for this story to get told, then we deserve it. But I think we're willing to absorb the boos from the audience in the first inning, as long as we still have a shot at winning the game."

So, don't judge the decision by the shock of the premiere. Judge it once we know the full story, one we know how the mystery has plays out.

Of course, Lanterns isn't making Hal's fate particularly straightforward. The story shows Hal alive in Rushville, Nebraska, during the 2016 "hail" incident, although things aren't exactly going great for him. There's also a decade-old "Halogram" connected to his Lantern ring, adding another strange piece to a mystery that already has plenty of them.

By 2026, however, Hal certainly appears dead. His frozen body is discovered slumped across the bleachers, giving Chandler's character a grim exit. Considering Chandler famously starred in Friday Night Lights, Lindelof's baseball metaphor about absorbing boos almost feels appropriate.

Chandler has also teased that the series won't turn into a "slow burn" following the premiere cliffhanger. That should be encouraging for anyone worried Lanterns might spend seven episodes withholding every meaningful answer until the closing minutes.

Then there's the interesting situation surrounding Hal's Green Lantern ring. It's been confirmed that Guy Gardner has Hal Jordan's ring in Superman, which immediately raises another pile of questions about how all of these pieces fit together.

After watching the first episode, I’m 100% invested int the series. While Hal Jordan is dead, there’s no doubt we are going to see a lot more of him as the story unfolds because there are different timelines to explore. It’ll be interesting to see how he got to where he ended up.

For the fans who aren’t happy with the direction, Lindelof isn't asking viewers to love the decision right now. He's just asking them to hold their fire until Episode 8. If the finale arrives and fans still believe Hal's death was unnecessary or exploitative, he says the writers deserve whatever criticism comes their way.

The writers clearly believe there's a payoff coming that will reframe what happened in the premiere.