The Emmy-winning executive producer broke his silence on the matter after comic creator Grant Morrison chimed in.

Lanterns boss Damon Lindelof apologizes amid fandom controversy: ‘I was sloppy and careless’

The Emmy-winning executive producer broke his silence on the matter after comic creator Grant Morrison chimed in.

By Nick Romano

Nick Romano

Nick Romano is a senior editor at ** with 15 years of journalism experience covering entertainment. His work previously appeared in Vanity Fair, Vulture, IGN, and more.

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March 17, 2026 10:48 a.m. ET

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Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler on 'Lanterns'. Credit:

John Johnson/HBO Max

- Damon Lindelof broke his silence on the *Lanterns* controversy sparked by old comments of his from 2024.

- Comic creator Grant Morrison criticized Lindelof for calling the green of Green Lantern "stupid."

- "I was sloppy and careless with my words," Lindelof wrote on Instagram.

Damon Lindelof, the Emmy-winning executive producer behind HBO series *Lanterns*, finally weighed into the controversy brewing among the DC fandom on social media.

"I made a dumb joke on a comedy podcast," Lindelof wrote in an Instagram post published late Monday night. "I’m not going to bob and weave about context, the joke was dumb, the fandom is not. I owe them an explanation and a genuine reflection of my actual feelings."

As far as controversies go, this one is pretty small potatoes. When the first *Lanterns* trailer released online earlier this month, some began to criticize the show's general lack of green, even though the creators and DC Studios co-head James Gunn have been up-front since the beginning about channeling a *True Detective* vibe.

The relatively inconsequential remarks took a turn, however, when people dug up Lindelof's 2024 appearance on the *Lovett or Leave It* podcast. The television creator behind *Lost* and *Watchmen* quipped at the time of the new show's title, "It’s called *Lanterns*, because we all agreed that the 'Green' was stupid, so now it’s just *Lanterns*."

Damon Lindelof and Grant Morrison.

Mark Von Holden/Variety via Getty; Roberto Ricciuti/Getty

The uproar then continued as famed comic creator Grant Morrison, who penned a notable Green Lantern comic arc from 2018-21, weighed in.

"TV writer/producer Damon Lindelof’s comments notwithstanding, the 'Green' in 'Green Lantern(s)' is not 'stupid,'" Morrison wrote, in part, on a Substack entry. "Why does a writer attach himself to this kind of narrative if he thinks it's fundamentally 'stupid'? You don't hand *CSI* scripts to patronising writers who condemn forensics experts and their haircuts as ‘stupid’, so why hire people who are ashamed and in denial about the comic book material they’ve been assigned to develop? Why don’t they turn down jobs they’re not suited for?"

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Lindelof's response continued from there.

"I have upset Grant Morrison, which means I have now pissed off MOST of the brilliant British/Scottish comics writers that I grew up idolizing," he wrote on Instagram. "To quote the bard (Otis Redding), this is nobody’s fault but mine."

As it happens, Lindelof's formal response on the matter comes at the start of St. Patrick's Day. He shared a photo of himself from 2004 when he attended a *Lost* panel for San Diego Comic-Con wearing a very green Green Lantern T-shirt, which he called his "favorite" at the time.

"For a quiet, uncoordinated kid, there was nothing cooler than a hero whose superpower was his imagination," he wrote. "And green is not stupid, it is my lifelong favorite color and I have a questionnaire that I filled out in third grade to prove it. Green is f---ing awesome."

He continued, "More importantly, it would be a betrayal to everyone I worked for and alongside to say anything other than I was absolutely honored to be a part of the team that manifested the incredible construct that is *Lanterns*…because it was. I was sloppy and careless with my words, ironic considering I care so much about Hal, John and the entire Corps. I can and will do better to be worthy of the oath… until then, I’ll let the show speak for itself and I can’t wait for you all to hear what it has to say."

Lindelof developed *Lanterns* with showrunner Chris Mundy and comic book creator Tom King. The drama takes place in the DCU established by *Superman*, *Creature Commandos*, and *Peacemaker* season 2. Aaron Pierre stars as John Stewart, a new recruit to the Green Lantern Corps., an intergalactic organization that polices the cosmos. Every Lantern is armed with a power ring, an object of incredible strength that allows the wearer to fly and create virtually anything they can think of, from power blasts to shields to constructs.

Aaron Pierre as John Stewart on 'Lanterns'.

John Johnson/HBO Max

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John, however, is two months into his training and still hasn't worn the ring. He's partnered with veteran Lantern, Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler), to investigate a murder in the American Heartland, a mystery that will have larger ripple effects for the DCU.

Ulrich Thomsen will also appear as Sinestro, a chief Green Lantern villain of DC Comics, alongside Kelly Macdonald as Sheriff Kerry, Garret Dillahunt as cowboy William Macon, Poorna Jagannathan as John's love interest Zoe, and Nathan Fillion as fellow Lantern Guy Gardner.

The series is on track to premiere in August.

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