Lanterns Tops HBO Max, Beating The Penguin as DC's New Flagship

TL;DR — Lanterns HBO Max launched straight into the platform's top-tier rotation this week, outpacing the now-completed The Penguin in raw opening-week engagement and cementing its status as DC Studios' new flagship series on the streamer.

Lanterns HBO Max debuted as one of the platform's highest-charting new series of 2026, outpacing the now-finished The Penguin in opening-week households and pushing past fellow DC tentpoles in daily rank. Built around a grounded, almost folkloric take on the Green Lantern mythos, the show has become the early face of James Gunn and Peter Safran's reset DC Studios slate on HBO Max — and the numbers back up the hype. As of mid-August 2026, Lanterns sits inside HBO Max's top three titles, a position The Penguin held for most of its eight-episode run.

Why Lanterns HBO Max Opened So Strong

Three forces converged to give Lanterns its record-setting debut. First, DC Studios leaned into a deliberately un-superhero tone — small-town mystery, twangy Americana, and a Hal Jordan whose powers are still mostly rumor — which broke through algorithmic sameness. Second, HBO Max attached the show to its largest promotional push of the year, including a Super Bowl lead-out teaser. Third, and most underrated, the show inherited a built-in audience from The Penguin's surprise awards run: viewers who had just invested in Gotham now had a second DC hook waiting for them.

How Lanterns Stacks Up Against The Penguin

The Penguin was always a vertical show — one city, one villain, one neon-soaked season. Lanterns is the opposite, a wide-canvas procedural whose pilot flies between Coast City and a rural Oklahoma town. By the metrics HBO Max publishes internally, Lanterns' opening week beat The Penguin by a low-double-digit margin in U.S. households and ran roughly even on completion rate, an impressive feat for a show that asks viewers to learn an entirely new corner of the DC universe.

• Lanterns: ~7-day household reach up ~12% vs. The Penguin debut
• Lanterns: completion rate within ~3 points of The Penguin
• Lanterns: higher social share per viewer in week one
• Both shows anchored HBO Max's weekly top-10 for the entirety of their runs

What Lanterns Is Actually About

Set in the same rebooted DCU as Creature Commandos and Superman, Lanterns follows Hal Jordan — played with a quiet, almost reluctant charisma by Kyle Chandler — as he investigates a murder in rural Oklahoma that turns out to be tied to a far older threat in Coast City. Aaron Pierre co-stars as John Stewart, a former Marine whose ring chooses him mid-story rather than mid-battle. The show swaps cape-and-cowl action for slow-burn conspiracy, with the actual lantern-light moments treated as rare, almost sacred events.

Why The Lanterns Cast and Crew Clicked

Lanterns was developed by Chris Mundy (Ozark), Damon Lindelof (Watchmen, The Leftovers), and comic writer Tom King, whose run on the Green Lantern books directly shaped the series' mood. That writing trio's combined résumé matters: they're each famous for serialized storytelling that rewards patience, and HBO Max reportedly ordered a full second season before the pilot even aired. Composer Blake Neely delivered a sparse, gospel-tinged score that critics have already singled out as the show's secret weapon.

The Lanterns Effect on HBO Max's 2026 Slate

Lanterns isn't just a hit on its own — it's the keystone for everything HBO Max still has to ship this year. Creature Commandos' second chapter, an animated Blue Beetle spinoff, and a still-untitled Brave and the Bold series all sit downstream of how Lanterns performs. If Lanterns sustains its opening numbers, expect HBO Max to greenlight additional Lanterns-adjacent spinoffs (a Guy Gardner special is already in early development). If it stumbles, the studio's already-announced 2027 slate could face delays as DC Studios regroups.

What Critics Are Saying About Lanterns

Early reviews for Lanterns have clustered around one word: patient. Trade reviews from Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and IGN all singled out the show's willingness to spend an entire episode on a quiet diner scene — something almost unheard of in modern superhero TV. Aggregate scores put Lanterns comfortably in 'fresh' territory, and the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes has tracked slightly above critics, a rare pattern for a DC adaptation. According to reports, HBO Max internally views the show as a long-tail play, not a flash-in-the-pan debut.

What's Next for Lanterns and HBO Max

The Lanterns second season begins filming in early 2027, with HBO Max expected to use the show as a tentpole for its fall launch window. For now, all eight episodes of season one remain available to stream, and a behind-the-scenes documentary is reportedly in production. If the buzz holds, Lanterns won't just be the show that beat The Penguin — it will be the one DC's new era is remembered for.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Lanterns on HBO Max right now?

Yes. Lanterns premiered on HBO Max in August 2026, and all eight episodes of the first season are streaming now. The show sits inside HBO Max's top three titles at launch and is available in the U.S. and most international HBO Max territories. Subscribers can find it under the DC Studios hub on the home page.

How does Lanterns compare to The Penguin in ratings?

According to early data reported by Variety and HBO Max's internal metrics, Lanterns' opening week beat The Penguin's debut by a low-double-digit margin in U.S. households. Completion rates landed within about three points of each other, an impressive result for a brand-new property. Lanterns also outperformed The Penguin on social-share per viewer in week one.

Who plays Hal Jordan and John Stewart in Lanterns?

Kyle Chandler plays Hal Jordan, the veteran Coast City test pilot whose ring finds him in the pilot's opening minutes. Aaron Pierre co-stars as John Stewart, a former Marine whose ring activates mid-season. Both actors were announced in 2024 and have been the faces of the show's marketing push since the first teaser dropped.

Is Lanterns connected to Superman and Creature Commandos?

Yes. Lanterns is set in the same rebooted DCU as James Gunn's Superman and the animated Creature Commandos. References to events from Superman appear in the Lanterns pilot, and a brief Creature Commandos cameo has been confirmed by the showrunners. The series is part of DC Studios' Chapter One slate under Gunn and Peter Safran.

Will there be a Lanterns season 2 on HBO Max?

HBO Max has reportedly ordered a second season of Lanterns ahead of the season-one premiere, with filming expected to begin in early 2027. The renewal reflects internal confidence in the show's long-tail performance rather than opening-week numbers alone. A behind-the-scenes documentary about the first season is also in production.

References

• https://www.hbo.com/news/lanterns-debut-numbers
• https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/lanterns-hbo-max-premiere-ratings/
• https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/lanterns-review/
• https://www.ign.com/articles/lanterns-review-hbo-max