Lanterns writer Damon Lindelof is no stranger to bringing out our emotions as part of Lost, The Leftovers, and Watchmen – but even we didn't see the first episode's narrative gambit coming.
Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan is dead and, as Lindelof told Collider, it's a story beat he initially wasn't on board with.
"We can't do that, everyone is gonna hate us and it feels gimmicky," Lindelof said. "But [showrunner Chris Mundy] was like, 'I don't feel that it's gimmicky. I think that it will actually infuse the entire story with a lot of emotionality, especially if the audience understands that John and Hal were not in a good place at the time that Hal died.'"
Lindelof revealed they "gradually" started coming round to the idea, but acknowledged that "a lot of people are going to be angry."
"'I waited this long for another live-action version of Hal, having not gotten him since the Ryan Reynolds film, and then basically 50 minutes after getting me to fall in love with Kyle Chandler, you're killing him off? Fuck you.'" Lindelof said.
"I guess our feeling is, let's see how you feel at the end of Episode 8, and if you still feel like it was exploitative or unnecessary, or that it wasn't exactly what had to happen in order for this story to get told, then we deserve it. But I think we're willing to absorb the boos from the audience in the first inning, as long as we still have a shot at winning the game."
In-universe, Hal Jordan is surviving – but not quite thriving – as 'hail' comes to Rushville, Nebraska as of 2016. There's even a decade-old 'Halogram' as part of his Lantern ring that muddies the waters slightly.
But in 2026, he appears definitively dead, his frozen body slumped out on the rafters – a fitting end to a character played by a Friday Night Lights lead, perhaps, but a sad one nonetheless.
We spoke to Kyle Chandler about the reveal, and he teased that the story won't be a "slow burn" from hereon out.
Adding to the mystery, it's been confirmed that Guy Gardner has Hal Jordan's ring. There's every reason, then, why our list of prime murder suspects is so long. But we'll have to seemingly wait until the finale to find out whodunnit.
For more, check our where Lanterns takes place on the DCU timeline, as well as our interview with Aaron Pierre as he talks Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow.
