SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for Season 1, Episode 6 of “Lanterns,” now streaming on HBO Max. Nathan Fillion has had a hard time convincing his friends that he’s actually in “Lanterns” after being absent for the first five episodes. But after tonight’s episode, Guy Gardner (Fillion) is back in action, revealed to be the new Green Lantern after John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) leaves behind the ring for good.
The comedic character, complete with his signature bowl haircut, appears in the 2026 timeline as John returns to Rushville and meets up with Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) one last time before Hal is found dead in the bleachers. I think that says a lot about who he is.” In the episode, Guy visits John in jail after getting the distress signal from Rushville. While Guy is initially reluctant to bust him out, John hits him where it hurts the deepest: “Everything you have is because I didn’t take it.” With that, Guy is “beholden” to someone for the first time in his life.
The stakes are higher for his sense of identity,” Fillion says. Guy is a fellow who’s really comfortable throwing his weight around.” Tied to Guy’s ego is his public persona. The first time audiences see his face in the series isn’t in the prison scene with John, but a cardboard cut-out advertising Electro Punch in the local grocery store.
He wants to open a bar, he has retirement plans; he’s not a dummy. I think he’s TikTok literate, he understands trends. I think he’s done more than one dance or two,” Fillion says with a laugh.
He wants to not just be Green Lantern, but a famous Green Lantern.” Fillion admits he was surprised when he got the call to reprise the character in “Lanterns,” a much more grounded show than Guy usually fits the mold for. I knew there was going to be a shift in tone. What I didn’t want was for there to be a shift in the character himself,” Fillion says.
But I got a real, solid knowledge base about pretty much everything DC, Marvel. I confess I didn’t see the value of Guy Gardner back then,” Fillion says. I think we’re kind of supposed to dislike him.” When tasked with introducing Guy in James Gunn’s “Superman” movie, which was released in summer 2025, he had to “dig deep” to tell the character’s story.
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