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Lanterns season 2 writer has a very blunt response to claims the show has been cancelled

Not capturing the zeitgeist? Sure, Jan

Daisy Phillipson
11th November 2026, 17:34
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After James Gunn and Peter Safran’s shock exit from the DCU, a report seemed to suggest that Lanterns had been cancelled. But there have been some promising updates, including from one of the show’s new writers.

Lanterns was one of DC’s biggest TV successes this year, with Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler winning us over as John Stewart and Hal Jordan. And it had the viewing figures to match. 

The series debuted to 9.3 million viewers globally in its first three days, before its finale pulled in 10.5 million. According to HBO’s reported figures, the show went on to average 19.3 million viewers globally, putting it among the platform’s five biggest series launches.

And that’s why so many people were confused when it was announced to be cancelled. 

You see, Skydance, the company run by David Ellison, completed its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery in October. And despite initially appearing to back James Gunn and Peter Safran’s plans for the DCU, the company announced on November 9 that the pair would be stepping down as DC Studios bosses.

They’ve been replaced by Jeremy Latcham, a former Marvel Studios executive whose religious beliefs have sparked quite the conversation this week. He’ll officially take over on December 1, overseeing DC’s films and TV shows. Meanwhile, Gunn and Safran will return to focusing on their creative projects.

This new direction has raised questions about what will happen to the DCU projects they helped to develop, including Lanterns. And those concerns only grew when Variety published a report suggesting the show’s future was looking rather bleak.

The report initially said the show hasn’t been renewed for season 2, leading many to believe it had been cancelled. What’s more, a company insider told the outlet that Lanterns “isn’t quite capturing the zeitgeist”. In other words, it hasn’t become the cultural talking point they hoped it would be.

This has prompted plenty of backlash, with many fans providing evidence that it had, in fact, captured the zeitgeist. 

One person shared a screenshot from a Skydance report, which says, “DC’s Lanterns and House of the Dragons season 3 rank among HBO Max’s strongest launches and returning seasons ever.” Alongside this, they wrote, “Let’s take a quick look at that Skydance earnings call shall we. Huh. Interesting.”

Another person replied, “‘Isn’t quite capturing the zeitgeist’ is the most obvious dog whistle to me, they just don’t like the show’s themes of race and inequality because Skydance are a bunch of right wing bootlickers.”

If you’re feeling disappointed, all hope is not lost. The Green Lanterns Podcast noticed that it appears Variety has since updated the wording on its report.

“Patience, folks. Not saying it will get renewed but it seems Variety misworded things and changed their wording form earlier from ‘not renewed’, to ‘has yet to be renewed’,” they wrote. 

And if that weren’t enough, writer and producer Christopher Cantwell, who was brought on to help develop Lanterns season 2 (if it goes ahead), took to Bluesky to write, “Dear Internet: I haven’t heard a f**king thing. 

“People sometimes wonder what future seasons of Halt and Catch Fire would’ve been. They would’ve arrived at social media and AI and the characters would’ve killed themselves… Nothing’s cancelled. Calm down.”

Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean Lanterns is being renewed. But at least we know it  hasn’t been cancelled. And hopefully the backlash is loud enough to convince the new DC powers that be to give it a second season.

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Featured image credit: HBO Max/X/A24