HBO’s new Green Lantern show from Watchmen producer reportedly casts Friday Night Lights star as DC's Hal Jordan

Kyle Chandler in Friday Night Lights
(Image credit: NBC)

Kyle Chandler has reportedly been cast as Hal Jordan aka Green Lantern in Lanterns, one of the upcoming TV shows in James Gunn and Peter Safran's new DCU slate.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Chandler is set to don the green suit for the new show, which HBO ordered direct to series back in June. The True Detective-style take on the DC hero focuses on Hal Jordan reluctantly mentoring a younger Lantern, John Stewart, and sees the two characters investigating an Earth-bound murder with larger implications. Josh Brolin was reportedly in talks to star but ultimately passed. 

True Detective: Night Country and Ozark writer Chris Mundy is set to serve as showrunner, with HBO's Watchmen and Lost creator to serve as executive producer. Award-winning DC and Marvel comic writer Tom King is to write the series.

Harold 'Hal' Jordan was created in 1959 by John Broome and Gil Kane as a reinvention of the '40s Green Lantern. John Stewart, the first African-American superhero to appear in DC comics, was created by Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams and first appeared in 1971. John Stewart has not yet been cast in the upcoming TV show.

Chandler won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his performance as Eric Taylor in the final season of Friday Night Lights. The actor also starred as Dr. Mark Russell in Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Godzilla vs. Kong. He also received two Emmy nominations for his his role as Detective John Rayburn in the Netflix thriller series Bloodline.

The first live-action Green Lantern movie hit theaters in 2011, with Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan. Wayne T. Carr played John Stewart in Zack Snyder's Justice League, with the Snyder Cut restoring the scenes that were cut from the theatrical version of the film.

Lanterns does not yet have a release date. For more, check out our guide to all the upcoming DC movies and shows you need to know about.

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Lauren Milici
Senior Writer, Tv & Film

Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ currently based in the Midwest. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.