UPDATE 10/8: Skydance’s first week brought a different answer, with a Season 2 renewal reportedly pending and the finale setting a series viewership record.
UPDATE 10/5: Collider claims a co-creator confirmed Season 2 is in early development. Lindelof only said writers are “ideating,” and there is still no order. Mundy has now said the same in a new interview: “there’s nothing official.”
UPDATE 10/4: The finale has aired with no Season 2 announcement. Check out CBN’s finale review and the fan reactions. Showrunner Chris Mundy lays out what a second season would look like.
No Lanterns Season 2 is in development at HBO. Neither is Booster Gold, or any other new DCU projects under James Gunn and Peter Safran.
Casey Bloys, the head of HBO, said it himself.
Asked by Deadline whether anything else is active in development at DC, the HBO boss answered: “No, not right now.”
The one show he pointed to is The People v. Gorilla Grodd, the Jimmy Olsen mockumentary that just started shooting in Atlanta.
That’s the man who makes the call, on the record.
‘No, Not Right Now’
The interview took place Monday night at HBO Max’s Emmy afterparty.
Deadline asked Bloys directly if there is some sort of reset happening for the DC universe, noting that previous development was killed.
Bloys pointed to the track record — “from Watchmen to Peacemaker to Penguin and now Lanterns” — and said HBO is “very selective.”
“You’ll read about development, but focus on what we’re greenlighting,” he said.
Deadline followed up: is anything else active in development?
“No, not right now, obviously you’ve got Gorilla Grodd,” Bloys said, calling the show “a really fun idea.”
That was the only time Lanterns came up all night, as a past credit. A second season never did.
Left Off HBO’s 2027 Emmy List
Bloys also ran through what HBO is bringing to next year’s Emmys, which cover shows released between June 1, 2026 and May 31, 2027.
His list: The Pitt, The Gilded Age, The White Lotus, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, I Love L.A., and Rooster, with The Trial of Louise Woodward on the limited series side.
Lanterns is not on it.
Season 1 premiered August 16, which puts every episode of the show inside that window. The show qualifies. Bloys didn’t name it.
Three Episodes Left, No Order
Cosmic Book News reported on August 19 that Season 2 was not greenlit.
On September 1, Damon Lindelof was on the record saying Season 2 happens “if it’s successful.”
Last week, The Ankler reported a renewal is “not imminent,” with co-showrunners Chris Mundy and Chris Cantwell writing pitch pages HBO would use to decide on an order.
Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre have already said they’re good either way.
As for the man deciding: asked Monday night if he plans to keep leading HBO after the Paramount merger, Bloys’ entire answer, per Deadline’s transcript, was a laugh.
And per CBN’s insiders, David Ellison wants DC television reaching Spider-Man numbers once the deal closes.
The next merger hearing is September 24.
The Lanterns finale lands October 4. After that, the only DC show HBO is making is a gorilla mockumentary.
