Lanterns creators and star Kyle Chandlers discuss the big change made to Hal’s backstory in the most recent episode to air on HBO. It goes without saying that if you have yet to catch Lanterns S1E07 then you should before reading this article to avoid SPOILERS.

This change worked for me, and I’ve been a fan of the show. However, as always there has been criticism online from Green Lantern fans unhappy with the change. Speaking with TheWrap about Episode 7, star Kyle Chandler gives his view on how it builds the character of Hal Jordan. 

“It’s more to build into the character. It’s more history. It’s more darkness. It’s more pathology of the character. There’s a lot going on with these two dudes,” Chandler told TheWrap. “As I’ve said before, and (Aaron) can speak for himself, but Hal had a pretty rough coming up in the world, all the stuff that happened, getting the ring, knowing about my family’s past, but look at his childhood! *laughs* I mean, come on!”

‘According to Lanterns showrunner and co-creator Chris Mundy, the Jordan Boys Legacy twist came about just as shooting was about to start, giving Chandler enough time to work this turmoil into his character from the beginning.’

“Before we rolled camera, he knew the pain his character held so that he could incorporate that however he does, in his sort of brilliant way, into the performance he was giving.”

“When you’re playing around with the canon, you have to treat it like you’re handling plutonium,” “Lanterns” co-creator Damon Lindelof told TheWrap.
“But at the same time, there’s kind of no fun and creativity and originality in that, so you simultaneously sort of have to start to kind of iterate.”

RELATED: Lanterns S1E07 Review – Same But Different

“How do I expand upon the existing canon without completely and totally violating it?”

“Ultimately, it’s sort of like, what is the basis of the character? Is Batman still Batman if his parents aren’t killed? Is Superman still Superman if there’s a Krypton? Is Hal Jordan still Hal Jordan if his dad didn’t die in a test flight?” Lindelof wondered. “Probably not, but then, ‘Can you recontextualize the death,’ is the way that we approached it.”

“Are there different contextual frameworks for fearlessness that are more relatable to the time that we live in now? That is to say, do I actually know anybody who’s presenting as fearless, and what’s at the heart of that fearlessness? … We would say to Tom (King), ‘Is there anything in the canon that would suggest that Hal’s dad dying wasn’t an accident?’” Lindelof said. “Then he would reference something. So you find these little kind of oral arguments for what I think is the worst thing that you can possibly do in these spaces, which is violations of the canon.”

I guess if you watch the show you either like this take or you do not? I do, but I can totally understand why some purists are purists given I can be one myself for some IP’s. 

What do you think? Leave your thoughts below as always. 

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