When a Comic-Con panel starts with an excellent new trailer, usually, itâs not gonna get better than that. However, in the case of the upcoming HBO DC show, Lanterns, the trailer paled in comparison to the clips that were shown in Hall H. Seven clips, in total, were shown, each better than the last, setting up incredible drama, action, and tension that have our hopes higher than ever for the show.

There are certainly some spoilers in these so if you want to go in cold, we’d recommend avoiding. Also, the titles are ours, not DC’s.

Clip 1: The Test

The first clip has John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) standing on a street. Up pulls a black car thatâs pumping âBoogie Shoesâ by KC and the Sunshine Band. Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) is driving. Hal acknowledges that heâs late, and John says itâs fine. But Hal kind of wants him to be mad and keeps goading him. âWhy are you not angry?â Things like that. John keeps calling him âSir,â and Hal mentions that every time he calls him âSirâ it sounds like âFuck you.â âNo, sir,â says John.

Hal explains that heâs been gone for two weeks off-planet settling some kind of galactic dispute. And, again, he jabs at John. âYou know how that is.â John says he doesnât because they havenât gone off-world yet. He mentions that the Guardians chose him, and Hal hasnât even let him try the ring yet. Hal then begrudgingly takes his ring off and sets it on the dashboard. He tells John thereâs a taco stand about three miles up the road and to meet him there. He proceeds to jump out of the moving, speeding car, which then flies off a cliff. In the air, we see John grab the ring, put it on, and start to manifest something with it.

Things pick up at the taco stand. Hal is there, signing autographs, taking photos, generally being famous. One woman tells him she misses the suit, and he mentions he wears it on special occasions. Then, finally, John strolls up. âI could have died,â he says. âYou wanted training. Iâm training you,â Hal replies. Hal then asks him what he made to survive. John, embarrassed, tells him, âBubble wrap.â

Clip 2: The Interrogation

The second clip sees Hal interrogating a mysterious man. This man was apprehended at a high school football game, and Hal happens to know heâs a fan of the University of Nebraska football team. So Hal asks him a few pieces of trivia about the team, which the man answers easily. Then Hal hits him with another question. âWhere does Harry Potter go to school?â The man is confused. He jokes that he does know who that is, and Hal jokes that there were books and about 22 movies. Hal then explains that if this man were human, heâd know things humans know. But if he was an alien, heâd study the specific character traits heâs adopted, but not all of humanity.

Like, for example, who Barack Obama was. Barack Obama was the President of the United States, the main answer. Hal then says, âYouâre from rural Nebraska, and thatâs the extent of your opinion on Barack Hussein Obama? Youâre definitely an alien.â Heâs got him.

The man then gets much more serious and explains that if, hypothetically, heâs an alien, he’s been very careful to blend in. He goes off on a long list of things he would have to do to stay secret and off the radar of intergalactic organizations like the Green Lantern Corps. He also adds that, if he were to be discovered by a group like that, heâd have a contingency plan. Something like a bomb that he could set off with his mind that could level the town. Hal tells him heâll just control it with his ring but the man retorts that heâs been in town for 48 hours; does he have the Lantern to recharge the ring? Is it powered up enough? Hal says it is. Thereâs some more back and forth to which Hal says, âAre we talking or exploding? Because it’s almost lunchtime.â The man starts to recite the Lantern oath to piss off Hal. Hal asks why he’s there, to which the man whispers, “Vengeance,” and explodes. Hal contains some of it with his ring, but it destroys the building.

Clip 3: The Flashback

Scene three is a flashback. John walks into a restaurant in his full Marine Corps uniform. The man heâs meeting tells him that usually when you meet at an Outback Steakhouse, itâs for discretion. John doesnât care. Heâs all business.

John is a highly decorated sniper, and the man has a mission for him. He begins to explain who the target is, but John doesnât care. Again, he only wants to know about the mission. Apparently, the man is impossible to find, and the only info they have is that he returns from time to time to a very remote vacation cabin. John realizes that means heâs going to have to hide and wait for the man for weeks or months. He also realizes heâs not the first person to do this. Apparently, three others tried, failed, and never came back. John is told to get his affairs in order before leaving and walks out.

Next, we see John on a military airplane, parachuting down into enemy territory to avoid detection. However, he crashes on the way down.

Clip 4: The Bar

John and Hal are sitting at a bar, and the song âBrand New Keyâ by Melanie is playing. A local man yells at Hal that if this song plays one more time, thereâs going to be a problem. John realizes Hal has a plan. Heâs starting shit. He wants to get into a fight and be sent to jail. Hal admits to it but tells John that itâs going to look like heâs getting really beat up and hurt, but not to interfere. John agrees to that a little too fast. Hal takes off his ring and puts it on the bar.

Hal gets up, starts fighting, and a woman sitting next to John asks him if heâs going to say “Yes.” He was given a ring, after all. John slides over to the flirty woman, played by Poorna Jagannathan, and they begin a conversation. She calls him a space cop, and John explains heâs not that just yet. Heâs just a trainee. The flirting continues as he explains how he was chosen by the Guardians to become Earth’s Green Lantern, but it hasn’t happened yet. She calls him the backup quarterback in a way that is filled with electricity, all while Hal continues to get beat up in the background.

Clip 5: The Husband

Scene five takes place soon after that. Hal and John are leaving dinner at the house of a powerful local named William Macon (Garret Dillahunt). Things seem cordial enough, but Hal points out that he doesnât know why Macon wanted to meet with them in the first place. Macon says, “Letâs just say we both share the interest of protecting the planet from people not born on it.” He then asks John how his tofu was. John says it was delicious, to which Macon replies, âThereâs nothing better than eating off another manâs grill.â

âWhat was that about?â Hal asks. John says that he may have slept with his wife. âMay have?â âI definitely slept with his wife.â âAnd he knows?â âApparently.â Hal says that theyâve only been in town for 24 hours. Heâs impressed.

Clip 6: The Mentor

The sixth scene sees Hal Jordan flying down to some kind of ice planet. Itâs a prison, and heâs there to see Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen). âWhat do you know about Manhunters?â Hal asks his former mentor. âIf one still existed, theyâd be your second greatest threat,â Sinestro replies. âTell me about John Stewart.â Hal doesnât know how Sinestro has heard about John since he’s alone in an ice prison, but he points out that clearly, this person isnât what he seems. Heâs not there to be his trainee. Heâs there to take the mantle of Green Lantern from Hal.

This then smash cuts in a very weird way (almost like the studio was trying to fool us) to Hal returning to Earth and John waiting on him. The two get into a massive fight, throwing each other all over the room, as a siren slowly wails in the background. Eventually, John gets Hal in a chokehold as a bright red light gets brighter and brighter from outside.

Clip 7: The Tease

The seventh clip played a little earlier in the panel, but it was not a full clip. It was Guy Gardner, played by Nathan Fillion, landing in town, walking into a jail, and waking up John Stewart. They know each other, but just as they were about to start talking, a screen came up that censored the rest.

Thatâs a lot, right? All the scenes had great energy and balance between humanity and superheroism. The writing was sharp, performances fun, and chemistry off the charts. We were really, really impressed and, hopefully, on August 16, itâll all come to fruition.

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