Note: This story contains spoilers from “Lanterns” Episode 2.
Until San Diego Comic-Con, fans didn’t know that Manhunters would appear in “Lanterns.” Until the show’s second episode, Hal Jordan and John Stewart didn’t either.
“Lanterns” Episode 2, directed by James Hawes and written by Vanessa Baden Kelly and Chris Mundy, sees John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) abducted by a man named Antaan (Paul Ben-Victor). Antaan soon reveals himself to be an alien, the leader of the group of human-disguised extra-terrestrials that included those killed on the Rushville football field and Waylon Sanders (Chris Coy), who was interrogated by Hal (and didn’t know where Harry Potter, boy wizard, went to school).
Antaan then reveals their purpose in Nebraska: They believe a creature known as a Manhunter is hiding in Rushville, and they intend to kill it. John can either alert them to its identity in 48 hours, or they will march into town and start blowing themselves up with no care for civilian casualties.
But what exactly are the Manhunters, and who is Antaan really? Read on to find out.
What are the Manhunters?
The Manhunters were created by comic book extraordinaire Jack Kirby in 1975’s “1st Issue Special #5.” They are a robotic group of peacekeeping agents that the immortal Guardians of the Universe constructed to watch over the 3,600 sectors before they came up with the Green Lantern Corps.
“You really think the Green Lanterns came first?” Antaan asks John in “Lanterns.” “You really don’t know?”
It is unclear if Antaan knows that the Guardians created the Manhunters or not, as he later expresses confusion as to why they would take it into their custody for execution.
Eventually, the Manhunters started to become too violent and self-aware, rebelling against the Guardians and meting out punishment in the name of “justice.” The Guardians then decommissioned their creations, inventing scientific power rings instead so non-synthetic beings could be their new peacekeepers: The Green Lanterns.
“They were brutal. They were deceptive. They carried out what they call justice. Entire species were lost,” Antaan says. “As mysteriously as they arrived, they were gone. At least we thought they were gone.”
In the comics, the Guardians didn’t catch all of the Manhunters. Like in “Lanterns,” some of these beings managed to escape their destruction by blending in on other worlds. In fact, Antaan claims that one of them used this tactic on both his homeworld and, now, Earth.
Are the Manhunters related to Martian Manhunter?
Nope!
Why does Antaan hate the Manhunters?
Antaan tells John that one of the Manhunters escaped onto his homeworld (which world that is, he does not say) and blended in among his people. He also implies that he had a close relationship with this Manhunter before it wiped out most of his people.
“In reality, one of them remained on our planet, passing as one of us while he quietly engineered a holocaust,” Antaan tells John. “Have you ever been deceived by someone you love?”
Antaan then uses a device to show John the destruction of his homeworld, saying, “This is what it looks like when a Manhunter destroys your people.” How exactly the Manhunter went about this, and how many of Antaan’s people remained, we don’t know.
But given the fact that Antaan and his men are willing to detonate themselves to kill the Manhunter, it’s clear they don’t have much left to live for.
Who is Antaan really?
While it’s clear that Antaan is merely an alien disguised as a human, it remains to be seen how much the show will delve into his backstory. Comic book fans, however, will know that Antaan’s origin sounds eerily similar to a major Green Lantern baddie: Atrocitus.
Since his initial casting in “Lanterns,” Ben-Victor’s role has been compared to the alien villain created by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver in 2008’s “Green Lantern #25.” Hearing his backstory, it’s easy to understand why.
Atrocitus is best known as the leader of the Red Lanterns, who derive their power from red rings of rage like the Green Lanterns do green rings of will. Like Antaan, Atrocitus saw his people of the planet Ryut killed by rogue Manhunters. But while Antaan only saw his planet destroyed, Atrocitus watched Manhunters ravage his entire space sector. In the end, only five beings, including Atrocitus, survived the destruction of Sector 666.
Ryut? Sector 666? It’s a bit on the nose.
Atrocitus is by far the best known Red Lantern, but there are a few other notable characters to wear the ring, including Guy Gardner and Supergirl at various points. Probably the second-most famous Red Lantern is Dex-Starr (created by Geoff Johns and Shane Davis), a cat who witnessed the murder of its owner in a home invasion. The cat was then kicked out of the apartment by the police and abducted by punks on the street, who threw Dex-Starr off a bridge in a bag. Only then did Dex-Starr have enough rage in his heart to attract a Red Lantern ring, which he wore on his tail. Heartbreaking stuff!
Will Atrocitus appear in “Lanterns”?
It’s unclear if the name Atrocitus will ever be uttered in “Lanterns” or if he will wield a Red Lantern ring. Antaan may simply an adjacent character who shares a similar backstory in a nod to the comics without the show committing to a full adaptation.
Whatever Antaan’s future will be, the similarities certainly aren’t lost on “Lanterns” showrunner and co-creator Chris Mundy.
“Talk to me about mixing some of the magical elements of this world with the grounded nature of this show,” TheWrap asked Mundy. “I think of Antaan, who is very much analogous to Atrocitus, who’s this big, hulking, red guy, and in the show, he’s a spurned man trying to make up for his trauma.”
“We tried to make everything relatable without undermining what came or minimizing the comic book element of it, so that was the really fun challenge, do you know what I mean?” Mundy replied. “It’s like, oh, there’s a hunt for vengeance for this person, this creature that destroyed their planet. And then, but like, yes that’s true, but then there’s also, ‘Oh, this is a personal story for this guy.’
“It’s like, ‘I understand that, but that’s a concept, and this is a real emotion,’” Mundy continued. “This is personal. And any time you can narrow something down into the personal, I think it will probably play better.”
“Lanterns” airs Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.
