LANTERNS Premiere Review | DC's Biggest Hit (Will The Hype Last?)
I first heard DC was releasing Lanterns, and admittedly, I was indifferent. I’m not the biggest Green Lantern fan. But I knew it was coming to HBO Max, and you just don’t sleep on a Sunday night HBO show.
The premiere delivered exactly what you expect from a signature HBO drama. I’m clearly not the only one who felt that way. It’s already been reported that the first episode of Lanterns pulled in 9.3 million viewers on its debut. That is an incredible feat.
It really begs the question: where is this so-called comic book movie fatigue?
While I already dropped a quick review of the first episode, I simply can’t stop thinking about this show. I have admittedly already watched episode one three times this week alone and we definitely need to dig deeper into why this show works so well.
Let’s start with the tone. When parents see a new DC show, they likely assume it’s safe for their kids to watch. I mean, I knew going in that Lanterns was aiming for an older demographic, but the marketing didn’t fully reveal just how mature it would be. It looked like a serious take on the comic-book franchise, maybe PG-13 at a best. Instead, we got a gritty, adult-oriented detective story.