Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner will return in HBO’s ‘Lanterns’ (exclusive)

When James Gunn, who co-heads DC Studios with Peter Safran, initially teased HBO’s Lanterns, he mentioned “a few other Lanterns” will be “peppered in there” alongside Aaron Pierre as John Stewart and Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan. We now know at least one of them.

After debuting in this summer’s Superman (in theaters July 11), Nathan Fillion will return as Guy Gardner in the upcoming True Detective-style drama series, a source tells Entertainment Weekly.

John and Hal will likely have strong opinions about this new addition. Fillion previously teased his performance of Guy in Superman, telling TV Guide in an interview, “He’s a jerk! What’s important to know is, you don’t have to be good to be a Green Lantern; you just have to be fearless. So Guy Gardner is fearless, and he is not very good. He’s not nice, which is very freeing as an actor because you just think to yourself, what is the most selfish, self-serving thing I can do in this moment? And that’s the answer.

“I think if he has a superpower,” Fillion added, “it might be his overconfidence, in that he thinks he could take on Superman. He can’t!”

Guy’s signature look in the film involves a severe bowl cut, though he will appear alongside other notable DC superheroes in Superman, including Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl and Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific. The movie follows animated series Creature Commandos as part of the DCU, which also features the Supergirl: Women of Tomorrow movie, as well as Peacemaker season 2 on HBO and Max.

Lanterns centers on Pierre’s John as a new recruit who teams up with a veteran Lantern, Chandler’s Hal, to investigate a murder in the American heartland. The dark, Earth-based mystery they encounter creates larger ripple effects for the DC universe.

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Lanterns also features Kelly MacDonald as Sheriff Kerry, who’s shaped by her complex past; Garret Dillahunt as William Macon, a self-righteous and conspiracy-minded modern cowboy; Ulrich Thomsen as Sinestro, who in the comics was a former Green Lantern who was kicked out for abusing his power; Poorna Jagannathan as Zoe, a woman who’s described as composed and cunning as the influential men around her; and Jasmine Cephas Jones as a younger version of John’s mother, Bernadette.