DC Studios co-head Peter Safran says a decision on Lanterns Season 2 will arrive before the end of 2026, and that it rests on one thing: whether the writers come up with a story good enough. In an interview with IGN, Safran confirmed a writers’ room is working on ideas, but the show hasn’t been greenlit.
Safran framed the bar as creative rather than commercial. He told IGN that if HBO, DC, showrunner Chris Mundy and the team all feel they have “a worthy successor to quite a beloved first season of television”, he wouldn’t be surprised to see more. That follows our earlier report that Season 2 is in early development with no HBO renewal, and puts a rough deadline on the wait.
The same line surfaced in his chat with Collider. Gizmodo reports that Safran said fans should hear “before the end of the year”, and that the worthy-successor test is what will dictate a second season.
Safran also used the interview to argue for TV’s place in the DC slate. He called episodic storytelling a way to tell stories that need more room than a film allows, and a way to introduce characters who then move into features. His example was Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart, who debuted in Lanterns and, Safran said, will appear next summer in Man of Tomorrow. So Stewart and the wider Lantern Corps don’t disappear from the DCU if Season 2 never happens.
Hal Jordan’s future is less clear. IGN says fans are hoping Kyle Chandler’s character returns, and Bleeding Cool reports that Safran wouldn’t weigh in on what happened to Hal when Stewart charged the ring at the end of the season. If you want a reminder of how that setup built, we covered the Episode 8 trailer before the finale.
Behind the camera, Gizmodo says Mundy would return for a second season while co-creators Damon Lindelof and Tom King would not. It adds that Mundy was about six weeks into laying out a season when he spoke to The Hollywood Reporter in August, and relays a Jeff Sneider report that he would work with Christopher Cantwell. IGN’s writer argues the show’s success makes a renewal hard to imagine being refused, but Safran’s answer gives no commitment either way.
Has Lanterns been renewed for Season 2?
No. Safran told IGN the series isn’t guaranteed a second season, and HBO hasn’t announced an order.
When will we know if Lanterns Season 2 is happening?
Safran says a decision will be made by the end of 2026, so an announcement could come in the next few months.
Will John Stewart appear in the DCU if Lanterns ends?
Yes. Safran said Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart will appear in Man of Tomorrow, the sequel to Superman, next summer.
