The DCU just landed a major win with Lanterns, and the early numbers prove it. The new HBO Max series has debuted to a glowing 89% Rotten Tomatoes score, instantly vaulting it into the upper tier of DC Universe projects. But even with all that praise, critics are pointing to another title as the true gold standard: a 2024 DCU project that still holds the top Tomatometer score in the entire franchise.
Lanterns’ Rotten Tomatoes score puts DC back in the prestige TV race
For DC fans who’ve gotten used to whiplash-quality and uneven rollouts, seeing Lanterns arrive with an 89% critic score is a relief — and a statement. Based on 35 reviews from critics who saw early screeners of the pilot ahead of the August 14, 2026 review embargo lifting, the series isn’t just being politely received. It’s being embraced.
That 89% figure makes Lanterns one of the highest-rated DCU TV projects to date. It’s landing squarely in the “certified fresh contender” range right out of the gate, with room to climb or dip as more reviews arrive after the official premiere on August 16, 2026.
There is a caveat: that score is based only on early reactions, so the number could still move. But in an era where superhero fatigue is a constant talking point, any DC series opening this strong is meaningful. It signals that the DCU’s big TV swing is connecting with critics, not just coasting on brand loyalty.
The DCU project critics still rank higher
Even with its strong debut, Lanterns isn’t the critical king of the DCU. That title still belongs to a 2024 DC project that quietly set the bar for what this new era of DC storytelling could look like.
The top-rated DCU project is the animated series Creature Commandos, which currently holds a towering 95% on Rotten Tomatoes — the highest Tomatometer score of any DCU title. In other words, the show that’s outpacing everything else in this universe isn’t a live-action tentpole, but an animated team-up series that arrived two years earlier.
Right behind it is another heavy hitter: Peacemaker Season 2 with a 94% score. Taken together, the trio of Creature Commandos, Peacemaker Season 2, and now Lanterns sketches a clear pattern. The DCU’s most acclaimed work is happening on the small screen, in tightly written, character-focused series that don’t feel obliged to prop up a dozen other projects.
Why critics are so into Lanterns
So what’s powering that 89%? The early critical reaction to Lanterns shows a few themes repeating across reviews.
First, there’s the writing team. The series’ scripts come from Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King — a combination that immediately raised expectations. Critics are saying the trio delivered, with many reviews calling out the grounded tone and sharp character work as the show’s core strength.
The critic consensus on Rotten Tomatoes captures the mood, describing Lanterns as a “controlled and fantastical escape” anchored by the performances of Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre and by “grounded writing” and “charismatic chemistry.”
Several individual reviews double down on that idea. One calls the series “fresh enough in its details and execution, and strong enough in its writing, and so well performed, that it feels quite original.” Another argues that the show’s gritty, down-to-earth approach “pays dividends” and gives the DCU a “much-needed win.” A third notes that the series is “keenly invested in the fears we carry, what they mean to the world, and how they define our humanity.”
None of that sounds like a paint-by-numbers cosmic police procedural. Instead, it suggests a series that uses its genre setup to dig into character, psychology, and tension — the stuff prestige TV thrives on.
Lanterns goes dark and local with its story
On paper, Lanterns could have leaned into pure spectacle. The premise centers on newly recruited Green Lantern John Stewart and veteran legend Hal Jordan — intergalactic law enforcers who are usually depicted patrolling distant space sectors and battling abstract cosmic threats.
Here, though, they’re pulled straight into a “dark, Earth-based mystery,” investigating a murder in the American heartland. That’s an intentionally narrow frame for heroes who could just as easily be orbiting alien worlds, and critics seem to think that choice is exactly why the show works.
By limiting the canvas to a grounded investigation, Lanterns can mix crime drama tension with sci-fi weirdness instead of trying to outdo space epics in scale. It’s a strategy that’s paid off for superhero TV before: keep the emotional stakes intimate, then let the genre trappings elevate the story instead of overwhelming it.
Pair that with the chemistry between Chandler and Pierre — which many reviews highlight — and you get a series built around character dynamics and moody investigation, not just ring-slinging effects work.
How Lanterns fits into the DCU’s critical hierarchy
Stacked up against the rest of the DCU, Lanterns now finds itself in elite company, even if it’s not at the very top. The current scoreboard looks something like this:
- Creature Commandos (2024) – 95% on Rotten Tomatoes
- Peacemaker Season 2 – 94% on Rotten Tomatoes
- Lanterns – 89% on Rotten Tomatoes (based on early reviews, subject to change)
That ranking is important for a couple of reasons. First, it confirms that the DCU’s biggest critical wins are coming from projects willing to get weird, specific, and creator-driven. An animated ensemble of monsters and misfits, an R-rated, offbeat antihero comedy, and a grounded cosmic-detective series don’t sound like safe bets on paper. Yet those are the projects that critics are rewarding most.
Second, it underscores how significant Creature Commandos remains to the franchise. Released in 2024, it didn’t just kick off a new chapter for DC. It set a standard that even high-profile follow-ups like Lanterns are still being compared against.
Even so, sitting just below a 95% and 94% doesn’t make Lanterns a disappointment — far from it. An 89% Rotten Tomatoes score in this genre, this late into the superhero era, is a sign of a show that’s doing something right. It means that while Creature Commandos may be the critical darling, Lanterns is already shaping up as a worthy companion piece.
What DC fans should watch for next
With its official HBO Max premiere on August 16, 2026, the next big question for Lanterns is whether audiences will line up with critics. Sometimes a series with strong reviews struggles to catch fire with viewers; other times — think of breakout genre shows over the last decade — that early wave of critical enthusiasm is exactly what turns a niche title into a word-of-mouth hit.
There are a few things to watch as the rollout continues:
- Score stability: As more reviews arrive after the premiere, the 89% score could shift up or down. Holding that number or climbing closer to the low 90s would cement Lanterns as one of the DCU’s crown jewels.
- Audience score: Viewer reactions on Rotten Tomatoes and social platforms will reveal whether the grounded murder-mystery angle resonates beyond critics.
- Franchise impact: If Lanterns keeps its buzz, expect it to become a tonal template for future DCU shows that blend genre elements with character-first storytelling.
Either way, the early reviews suggest DC has found something that works: putting seasoned showrunners and writers in charge, dialing down the obligation to constantly cross-reference other titles, and trusting specific, well-acted stories to carry the universe forward.
What This Means
The big takeaway from Lanterns’ Rotten Tomatoes debut isn’t that it failed to surpass Creature Commandos. It’s that the DCU now has multiple projects that critics genuinely like — and they’re clustered tightly at the top of the Tomatometer.
Creature Commandos still wears the crown as the highest-rated DCU project at 95%, with Peacemaker Season 2 nipping at its heels and Lanterns joining the top tier with a strong 89%. For a franchise that’s spent years chasing consistency, that’s a good problem to have.
If the audience shows up for Lanterns the way critics have, DC’s intergalactic cops might do more than solve a murder in the American heartland — they could help solve the DCU’s long-running identity crisis, too.
Image: TMDB
