Lanterns has become the breakout hit show of the Fall season and is shaping up to be one of the biggest success stories in the new DC Universe franchise. The show’s approach to Green Lantern lore (as a True Detective-style police procedural) has resonated with a much wider audience than the DC comic book fandom. Still, despite all the pop-culture hype, the exact ratings for the show have been unclear… until now.
Ratings for Lanterns have been revealed, and the Nielsen data is looking very good for the show, HBO, and the DCU brand. Lanterns has the highest viewership of any DCU TV show, as well as the most streaming views of any TV Show.
Lanterns Is Setting New Ratings Records For DCU TV Shows
According to Nielsen ratings, Lanterns Episodes 1-4 generated 500 million viewing minutes, placing it in the Top 10 of all streaming content across any platform. For comparison, DC Film News notes that The Penguin didn’t even make it to the Top 10 on the Nielsen charts until the finale had aired and the entire show was already streaming on HBO Max. The hype that The Penguin’s final episodes generated got viewers invested and helped boost the show’s popularity (if late in the game) through word of mouth. It was still enough for the limited series to receive three Golden Globe nominations (one win) and a whopping 24 Primetime Emmy Award nominations (with six wins).
Lanterns is only halfway through the season and is already eclipsing The Penguin’s ratings. Combined with the overwhelming hype from viewers and the critical acclaim (93% on Rotten Tomatoes), it’s looking like the show will be an awards contender, for sure. But these kinds of ratings are also key to ensuring that Lanterns gets a Season 2 order, while DC Studios and HBO gain even more confidence in the TV side of the DCU brand. Right now, genre-blends seem to be the formula that works, whether it’s doing a Batman villain show as The Sopranos clone, or doing a Green Lantern show as a True Detective mystery.
Lanterns Is Doing More Than Ratings For the DCU
The real victory that Lanterns can achieve has nothing to do with ratings. The show looks like it has carved out its own lane in the DCU, but the real test will come starting in Episode 6, when other corners of the franchise cross over with the world Lanterns has built.
The Green Lantern we met in Superman, Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), will be popping up to see John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) about the murder of Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler). It’s also been confirmed that Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart will be appearing in the Superman sequel film, Man of Tomorrow. These two crossover moves could establish a bridge between DCU films and TV shows that is stronger than anything we’ve seen from the Marvel Cinematic Universe brand in the last few years.
Lanterns is airing on HBO and streaming on HBO Max.