Lanterns: Green Lantern Corps Members Scrapped From War Scene

The creators of "Lanterns" nearly brought in reinforcements from the Green Lantern Corps for a scene in the fifth episode, before deciding to scrap the idea.

Co-creator Chris Mundy, speaking with Entertainment Weekly, explained that the writers' room had a plan to show other members of the Corps arriving during a war zone sequence in Rushville. In the scene, the encroaching darkness would have been blown away by additional Lanterns.

"We had a scene in the writers' room in our heads where that darkness was still encroaching on the town, and various other Lanterns in the Corps came and blew it away," Mundy said. "That was the one time we would've seen the others, but we ended up not doing it just because it pulled focus from our guys at that point."

Mundy confirmed that other colored corps — like the Red Lanterns and Star Sapphires — were never considered for the story. The show centered on Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre), with Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen) and Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) appearing instead.

Other Corps members like the squirrel-themed Ch'p and the living planet Mogo were only referenced by name, not seen.

The grounded approach was intentional. "We obviously left the planet, so that's in our wheelhouse, but we like the idea of the show being very grounded," Mundy said. "It's a little more tactile 'of this earth,' 'of this world' kind of thing."

The first season ended with John blackmailing the Guardians of Oa to keep Hal's ring and work independently on Earth. Guy Gardner will patrol Sector 2814 while John handles alien detective work on the ground.

Season 2 and beyond

Though a second season hasn't been confirmed, Mundy hasn't ruled out more extraterrestrial adventures. "We've proven that we can sneak in other stuff, too, if the story warrants it," he said.

On "The Midnight Boys" podcast, Mundy revealed the writers' room has discussed including more alien Lanterns. Writer Vanessa Baden Kelly has been "talking a big Kilowog game for a long time," he said.

Both John Stewart and Guy Gardner are set to appear in James Gunn's upcoming "Man of Tomorrow," with Aaron Pierre and Nathan Fillion reprising their roles.

Mundy suggested that fans hoping for a more space operatic tone might revisit "Green Lantern: The Animated Series" for that fix.

• Chris Mundy
• DC Universe
• Green Lantern
• HBO
• Kyle Chandler
• Lanterns