Men's Health August 17, 2026 0 Comments

Is Hal Jordan Really Dead in Episode 1 of Lanterns? The Shocking Truth You Won’t Believe!

Ever notice how some shows grab you by the collar and refuse to let go? That’s exactly the vibe HBO’s latest, Lanterns, is channeling — a gritty, cosmic mystery wrapped in a style heavily inspired by the groundbreaking True Detective. Remember when True Detective flipped the crime genre on its head back in 2014? Well, Lanterns takes that intense, Southern Gothic blueprint and bolts it to the sci-fi universe of the Green Lantern corps. But here’s the kicker: right out of the gate, we’re hit with a whopper of a twist—Hal Jordan, Earth’s first Green Lantern, appears dead. Dead? Or is it a slick superhero misdirect? What’s got me hooked is how Lanterns isn’t just sticking to one narrative thread; it’s weaving multiple timelines and conspiracies that make you question what’s really going on beneath the surface. Oh, and if you thought Kyle Chandler’s portrayal of Hal was just charm and swagger, the unfolding mystery will make you rethink everything. So, what’s the story behind this seeming demise? And more importantly, what does that mean for the guy who’s supposed to take over the ring? Strap in, because this isn’t just your usual superhero fare—it’s a mystery that asks: can a man with a ring truly ever die? LEARN MORE

5 min read

The following story contains spoilers for Lanterns episode 1, “Pilot.”

TRUE DETECTIVE CHANGED things. Don’t get me wrong—when the first season of HBO’s beloved mystery series hit airwaves in 2014, the network was already a major power player. Shows like The Sopranos, The Wire, Deadwood, and all the other greats that everyone always talks about were not only established but canonized. But when True Detective aired, the prestige cable giant not only found a mega hit starring two established superstars (in Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson), but a whole new format and style that it would almost constantly look to replicate and continue until this very day.

True Detective took a classic cop mystery, and put a couple extra twists on it. Two dudes solving a crime isn’t anything new. But when True Detective put those two dudes in a slightly surreal and odd Southern Gothic setting, spread the story over multiple time periods, and then supercharged it into a tight, single-season arc, it became its own thing entirely. It’s been hard for anyone to match the success of that first True Detective season, but shows like The Outsider, Mare of Easttown, Sharp Objects, and even Task—to go along with three more seasons of True Detective itself—have all been sort of trying to capture that same energy in the decade plus since. “In the style of True Detective,” has, across all of television, kind of become its own subgenre.

Which brings us to Lanterns. HBO’s newest series (and the latest chapter in James Gunn’s rebooted and retooled DC Universe) takes clear inspiration from True Detective, focusing in on the duo of Earth’s first Green Lantern, Hal Jordan (played with wonderful Texas charm by Kyle Chandler) and his eventual successor, John Stewart (the equally captivating Aaron Pierre).

The bulk of Lanterns’s story, at least in the early going, takes place in 2016, as Hal—charismatic as ever, but often hungover and a little disheveled—is slowly but surely teaching John how to be a Lantern (which, for the purposes of right now, is basically a “Space Cop” who investigates crimes related to space matters on any planet across the universe; Earth is in Sector 2814). There’s only one Lantern ring on Earth, we learn, but if and when something happens to Hal, John will be there, ready to take over. That is, until a signal tells him something is up in Rushville, Nebraska, and both men head out. Quickly, we discover a conspiracy afoot; Hal thinks there are aliens up to something in Rushville, and he’s quickly proven correct when someone he suspects to be one falls for his tricks, and, eventually, self-destructs himself.

Pepper in a local sheriff named Kerry Kane (Kelly MacDonald), her sleazy lawyer husband (Jason Ritter), and his wealthy, mysterious, almost-definitely-evil father (Garret Dillahunt), and, well, baby, we’ve got a True Detective–style mystery and deep rooted conspiracy going.

But that’s only part of it. Just when we think the episode has come to a close, the episode jumps 10 years into the future, taking us back to Rushville in 2026 as Kerry and John meet up under circumstances they’re clearly not too happy to share. (Pleasantries are exchanged, as John asks Kerry about her son, and Kerry tells John he looks like he hasn’t aged at all. It’s also easy to see that John is not wearing any Lantern ring.) But we must get down to business: Kerry tells John that only the groundskeeper knows what they’re about to look at. The camera then follows our heroes to the bleachers, as it’s revealed what’s brought them together: Hal Jordan’s seemingly dead body, covered by a layer of snow, and without a ring on his hand.

What’s happened is, surely, the engine of the Lanterns series. Like True Detective’s first season, it becomes immediately evident that we’ll be following not one but multiple mysteries in this season alone. And there are more questions than just (what seems to be) Hal’s murder. Mainly, what happened that John isn’t currently the Green Lantern on Earth? Anyone who saw Superman or Peacemaker season 2 knows that role is currently held by the cocky Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion). So either Guy took what was promised to John, or there was a rule change to allow two Lanterns on Earth at once. Fillion will appear in Lanterns later in the run, so we’ll certainly get some answers on that one.

But for now, uh, what’s going on with Hal Jordan?

Watch Lanterns Here

Did Hal Jordan really die in episode 1 of Lanterns?

HBO

Lanterns hits us with a gut punch at the end of its first episode. After we spend an hour getting to know and, really, start to love Hal (and Chandler’s take on him is pretty much irresistible), the jump to 2026 hits us with some tough news: Hal does appear to be dead in Rushville, Nebraska.

Now, is Hal definitely dead? Probably. But we’ll come back around to that later. Hal’s seeming demise in 2026 will certainly drive an aspect of the show, but anyone who loved what Chandler did as Hal in the first episode shouldn’t be concerned—the driving force of this story is still set in 2016, and so we’ll still get to see a ton of this character leading Lanterns. This is not like the last time Chandler’s character surprisingly died in the first episode of a new television drama.

There were plenty of moments throughout the debut Lanterns episode indicating that Hal’s demise could be around the corner, particularly when he tells John that he doesn’t plan on dying anytime soon. But there’s also the fact that we’ve already seen Hal being deceptive. His death could be fuel for John to pick up old threads they dropped (something we’ll likely see in future episodes to come), and it could mean John claiming the ring that should be rightfully his (which Guy Gardner seemingly already has).

But it could also be Hal faking his own death to draw someone out. Lanterns are capable of all sorts of projection and deception, and this is a superhero genre story. Who’s to say anything isn’t possible? But if Hal is dead, then that’s one hell of a way to set up some serious stakes in the very first episode.

It also makes sense that Hal would be deceased, because we know that Aaron Pierre will appear in next year’s Superman sequel film Man of Tomorrow, while there’s been no such announcement about Chandler. Obviously, that doesn’t mean too much, but we can at least surmise that John’s story continues into that film, while Hal’s may or may not conclude here.

Evan is the culture editor for Men’s Health, with bylines in The New York Times, MTV News, Brooklyn Magazine, and VICE. He loves weird movies, watches too much TV, and listens to music more often than he doesn’t.