Lanterns (2026) No Spoiler Review: A Solid Series with an Amazing Finale

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Lanterns just wrapped up its eighth and last episode. And well, that was a 10/10 finale. It was one of the best season finales I’ve ever seen. And no need for a cliffhanger for “next season” either, although there kinda is one.

This past week, I saw a post saying Lanterns was on par with another DC series, The Penguin. I immediately shared it, for two reasons. First, this is a really good series, and I haven’t been this hooked on a weekly series since the height of Game of Thrones (none of this House of the Dragon BS). A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms was good, but it’s not as good as Lanterns. Second, The Penguin was already pretty good. When it wrapped, it was probably one of the top 3 seasons of TV I’ve ever seen. So at that point, I still put The Penguin over Lanterns.

Lanterns is really cool. It navigates its many underlying themes masterfully: nature vs. nurture, the nature of fear and fearlessness, family and expectations, doing what’s right and knowing what’s right, and even what it means to be a minority in America. Yes, those are all in the eight episodes. Nothing is forced, and everything is well-paced.

Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre were both excellent. Kyle Chandler made you dislike him and root for him at the same time. Aaron Pierre is just a revelation. A few weeks ago, I tweeted that he’s the best Black superhero to this day, outside the Black Panther world.

I don’t understand what’s wrong with Anthony Mackie. I never liked him, and I tried really hard. I’ve narrowed it down to this: he looks like he takes himself too seriously as a character, and in real life, he seems a tad too arrogant. You can see it in how he interacts with the other Marvel actors. Something was just never right.

But Aaron Pierre is believable. There’s an appeal. He’s relatable enough that guys like him. I first saw him in the Netflix film Rebel Ridge (2024), where he was excellent. He came out of nowhere with that performance, and it was epic (go watch it if you haven’t!). He kinda reminded me of Reacher, but to be honest, if you ask me right now, he’s an even better Reacher than Alan Ritchson. And if you’ve read my Reacher review, you know I really do like Reacher, and I (used to) think Ritchson should be the next Batman (though that would still be amazing). I’m also looking forward to seeing Aaron Pierre in Love of Your Life (2026), a romance with Margaret Qualley. It’s in theaters this week and comes to Amazon Prime Video on October 14. I want to see how far Aaron Pierre can stretch his acting chops.

And rounding out the cast, Kelly Macdonald was also amazing here, and an important part of the series and its character development. Great performance from her too.

The characters and portrayals were well done. It did feel like a small-town murder mystery. By the end, I thought I knew what was going to happen, but I got misdirected at least three times. Excellent script. It’s a great setup for John Stewart moving forward, and it sets up its own mini-universe within the DCU really well. It’s a self-contained, rich backstory that reintroduces the world to the Lanterns.

So after everything is said and done, and after one of the best season-enders I’ve ever seen, I’m putting Lanterns above The Penguin. It’s just that good!

And I’m excited to see this new Lantern join the DCU. This kinda saved the DCU for me after such a disappointing Supergirl movie.

And good news if you haven’t seen it: all eight episodes are streaming now on HBO Max!

★★★★★ for me, ★★★★☆ for her.

Want to see what else we’ve been watching? I’m on Letterboxd.