Key Takeaways
- HBO hasn’t renewed or canceled Lanterns, while showrunner Chris Mundy said the odds of a second season are “a coin flip, 50/50.”
- Cancellation fears grew amid reports questioning the show’s impact on viewers and James Gunn and Peter Safran’s departure announcement from DC Studios.
- The live-action superhero and mystery series ended its eight-episode first season with a 92% Rotten Tomatoes score and an reported average of 22 million global viewers.
A lack of a renewal announcement for HBO live-action superhero mystery Lanterns has fans nervous about the show’s future.
The show, which stars Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler, concluded its eight-episode first season run on Oct. 4, receiving acclaim from viewers and critics alike with a 92 percent Rotten Tomatoes score. But as fans wait for Lanterns to get the season two greenlight, we break down what led to speculation that the show was cancelled.
How the Rumors Circulated
On Tuesday (Nov. 11), Variety ran a story on the DC Studios shake-up following James Gunn and Peter Safran’s exits, with an insider telling the publication that Lanterns wasn’t “quite capturing the zeitgeist" and claimed the show "has yet to be renewed for a second season."
Variety later added another comment from the source, reading, "People cannot wait to make another season of a hit show."
Showrunner Chris Cantwell took to Bluesky to address the rumors, saying, “I haven’t heard a fucking thing…Nothing’s cancelled. Calm down.”
Where the Possibility of a Second Season Stands
In October, former DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran told Collider that HBO had yet to give the go-ahead for more episodes but would receive an answer before the end of the year.
“If we're able to come up with what we believe to be a worthy successor to a beloved and great first season, that's what's going to dictate whether there's a second season,” he told the outlet.
Chris Mundy, Lanterns’ showrunner, told The Playlist that the possibility of a return could be a "a coin flip, 50/50."
Why Are Fans Anxious?
Earlier this week, James Gunn and Safran revealed in an Instagram statement that they would be leaving DC Studios, with the pair being succeeded by former Marvel executive Jeremy Latcham, who’s stepping in as DC's president and chief creative officer on Dec. 1. The exit was announced following Paramount's purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery in October.
How Has Lanterns Performed?
On Skydance's third-quarter earnings call, the company said Lanterns averaged 22 million viewers globally and called the program "among HBO Max's strongest launches," as Esquire reported.
What Comes Next
Whether Lanterns gets a second season is currently undetermined, and the decision will go to DC's new leadership, with Latcham set to oversee film, TV and animation at DC Studios.
