Even earlier than Lanterns had solid its titular roles, the fan theories in regards to the DCU TV collection have been beginning to type. A few of it was simply wishful considering, however that slowly morphed into fan expectation for some, because the hopes of seeing the “Blackest Night time” storyline play out on the display screen began to look attainable to some. The theories continued as effectively after the present started to solid its key roles, particularly when actors have been confirmed for roles that didn’t appear to have a foundation within the pages of DC Comics. It’s to be anticipated that followers would possibly assume when this occurs that it’s a secret being stored; after years of elusive casting and hidden particulars in superhero motion pictures, it’s virtually a given.
The important thing instance right here was when The Wire star Paul Ben-Victor was confirmed to star in Lanterns because the character Antaan; it got here with an outline that appeared to level elsewhere. Described as “an extraterrestrial dedicated to exposing the reality and exacting vengeance in opposition to those that wronged his folks,” plus having a “deep and unrelenting hatred for the legislation,” the idea started to take maintain that this Antaan would possibly secretly be the Crimson Lantern Atrocitus, a personality who would develop the Lantern mythology in some ways by merely showing. This week’s episode of Lanterns, although, not solely shredded that principle to bits, however made it clear followers can’t hold anticipating precisely what they need.
The DCU Was By no means Going to Deliver within the Crimson Lanterns Like This
It’s straightforward to see why DC followers jumped after which clung to the idea that Antaan wasn’t who he gave the impression to be. The central plot thread of the bigger collection has been in regards to the hunt for the final surviving Manhunter, the entities created by the Guardians of the Universe who preceded the Inexperienced Lanterns. Very like the comics, the Manhunters within the DCU went fallacious and did some messed-up stuff.
When Antaan made his debut in Lanterns and revealed his reasoning behind wanting to search out and remove the Manhunter, it solely made followers who purchased into the Atrocitus fan principle dig their heels in. Once more, it’s not arduous to see why they felt this manner, since Atrocitus’ personal backstory in DC canon has the very same beats: his folks have been killed by the Manhunters, an occasion that will drive him and later ignite his rage sufficient to begin the Crimson Lantern Corps.
So when this week’s episode of Lanterns arrived, and Antaan not solely is revealed to not be Atrocitus in any respect, but in addition dies a considerably humiliating dying by the hands of Hal Jordan (his dying was even revealed in one of many present’s trailers, sans context, after all), it threw a giant bucket of water on this fan principle. Antaan wasn’t secretly this massive unhealthy with main Inexperienced Lantern lore implications; he was precisely the character that the crew at DC Studios mentioned he can be. Nevertheless it additionally begs the query: Was Lanterns ever going to even contact an enlargement of the Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum?
Lanterns Is Proving That Fan Theories Can’t Drive Expectations
The enjoyable of water-cooler tv like Lanterns is within the theories; there’s no query about it, but it surely needs to be on the phrases of the present itself. Three main story factors which were on the coronary heart of Lanterns have been: “Who’s the Manhunter?” “What’s going to occur with the Inexperienced Lantern ring?” and “Who killed Hal Jordan?” These three questions alone ought to have been sufficient to gas infinite dialogue and hypothesis, however the tantalizing “what if” about how Antaan would possibly secretly be one thing else was an excessive amount of.
From the bounce, Lanterns has been billed as a grounded, Earth-bound story in regards to the titular characters that was impressed by True Detective. That mentioned, Atrocitus’ storyline does lead him to our planet as a way of sparking the “Blackest Night time” prophecy, however the one factor that has pointed towards Antaan being this secret supervillain within the present…. was followers leaping to conclusions.
Although there was no actual trace in any respect about Antaan secretly being Atrocitus, the presence of one other character might very effectively make the far-fetched Lanterns theories take one other type. Ulrich Thomsen as Sinestro has solely briefly appeared within the collection, however on condition that character’s place in DC lore, it’s solely a matter of time earlier than followers start to marvel about what comes subsequent for this villain. Sinestro can solely sit in a jail cell for therefore lengthy earlier than his ambitions ship him elsewhere, and the anticipation of him attending to that place and maybe reclaiming a yellow ring will little doubt be on the minds of many as we attain the tip of the season.
To that finish, the enlargement of the Inexperienced Lantern mythology is definitely nonetheless a chance for the DCU at giant, however Lanterns itself was by no means going to do it instantly. The collection needed to lay the groundwork for its personal story, introduce a slew of latest characters and their very own origins and histories, and that was earlier than it even thought-about flying into area for a quick sequence. As enjoyable as fan theories may be, expectation and realism ought to maintain them again to a level; that mentioned, the way forward for Lanterns is already being thought-about, so anticipate them to fly quick and freely in just some weeks when the season ends.