Emmy-winning “Lost” and “Watchmen” creator Damon Lindelof is joining James Gunn’s DC universe. The acclaimed writer has been added to the team that will bring a “Green Lantern” TV show to life alongside “Ozark” showrunner Chris Mundy and comic book writer Tom King, Gunn revealed on social media Saturday.
“Yes, it’s true. The Lanterns DCU series is putting together a crack team of writers, based on a wonderful pilot script and bible by Chris Mundy, Tom King, and Damon Lindelof,” Gunn said. “A hearty welcome to Chris and @damonlindelof as they join the DC Studios family.”
Gunn, who is currently in the middle of directing the “Superman” reboot for a 2025 release, noted that King has been with DC Studios since its inception under Gunn — along with being part of the DC Comics family as a writer for its books much longer than that. DC Studios also has a “Supergirl” film set inspired by King’s comic series “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow.”
A previous iteration of a “Green Lantern” TV series was in the works before Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC. That version was created by Greg Berlanti and had Finn Wittrock lined up for a starring role.
“Greg’s vision was more of a space opera that he wanted to do and our vision for it is a much more ‘True Detective,’ terrestrial-based investigation story,” Safran said during a presentation of the initial DCU slate in 2023.
This new show will focus on the characters of Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and John Stewart. “It plays a really big role leading into the main story that we’re telling across our film and television,” Safran teased at the time. “So this is a very important show for us.”
Further plot details for this new “Lanterns” show are under wraps, but it’s part of Gunn and Safran’s new plan for the DC Universe and will run alongside other greenlit DC shows including “Peacemaker” Season 2, “Waller” and the animated series “Creature Commandos.”
Lindelof most recently cocreated the Peacock sci-fi comedy series “Mrs. Davis” and was writing the Rey-focused “Star Wars” movie set to star Daisy Ridley before he departed the project over creative differences. Lindelof, of course, came to prominence as the cocreator and co-showrunner of “Lost,” after which he became an in-demand feature film scribe, writing movies like “Prometheus,” “Tomorrowland” and the first two “Star Trek” films.
After his stint in film, Lindelof returned to television for the critically acclaimed drama “The Leftovers,” which ran for three seasons on HBO. He then reimagined the DC property “Watchmen” for HBO to Emmy-winning results, earning praise from fans and critics alike for his reworking of the iconic graphic novel.
Mundy steered “Ozark” for its entire run on Netflix and recently served as an executive producer on “True Detective: Night Country.”