DCU Lanterns: Kelly Macdonald Joins Series

Kelly Macdonald has joined the cast of HBO and DC Studios’ Lanterns, the upcoming DCU series centered on the Green Lantern universe.

Known for roles in Boardwalk Empire and No Country for Old Men, Macdonald will portray Sheriff Kerry, a character officially described as “a no-nonsense woman deeply devoted to her family and close-knit town. Her resilience, shaped by a complex past that’s hardened her resolve, anchors her when the community’s secrets begin to surface.”

Lanterns follows Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and John Stewart, played by Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre, as they investigate a dark mystery tied to a murder in the American heartland. Lanterns has also been described as similar to True Detective and follows Hal Jordan, a legend amongst the space police force known as the Green Lanterns, as he reluctantly mentors a younger Green Lantern, John Stewart.

The show is set for an eight-episode run.

Lanterns is executive produced and co-written by Chris Mundy (Ozark), Damon Lindelof (Watchmen), and comic writer Tom King, with Mundy as showrunner. James Hawes, who also executive produces, will direct the first two episodes.

Macdonald’s role marks her return to HBO, where she previously earned an Emmy nomination for Boardwalk Empire. Beyond TV, her film credits include Trainspotting, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, and voicing the lead in Pixar’s Brave.

“Chris, Damon, and Tom have put this thing together. It’s another project that’s been blessed from the beginning,” explained James Gunn at the recent NYCC. “It’s something when we first started the DCU, in the first couple weeks of heading this up, we got together with a group of of writers, and Tom King was one of those writers.

Gunn continued, “And we were in this room, and we came up with sort of this concept for Lanterns, and then we got Chris and Damon involved, and it just kind of has come out very easily, very naturally, it’s a much more — it’s a very grounded series, a very real series which is strange to say in a Green Lantern show but it’s going to be something like nobody’s ever seen before, and I can’t wait for people to catch it on HBO when it comes out.”