After the monumental failure of Supergirl, which lost millions by the bucketload, and with doubts over what will happen to DC when Clayface and Man of Tomorrow arrive, James Gunn can breathe easy, because he has survived one of his toughest tests: the arrival of the live-action DC Universe on HBO. Or, put another way, the unexpected success of Lanterns.
In the darkest night…
During its first three days after premiering, Lanterns has racked up a total of 9.3 million views on HBO and HBO Max in the United States, making it one of the 5 best premieres in the platform’s history. And that’s despite the fact that after the first trailer, many swore they would never watch the series for not feeling superheroic enough… when maybe that’s exactly what’s catching the public’s attention. That it’s True Detective but with capes and powers.
For context, and although the metrics aren’t comparable (sometimes they’re five-day figures, or from a season 2), Lanterns has been watched in its first few days as much as Agatha, of all shows, (one of the MCU’s biggest hits, even though some people insist on claiming nobody watched it), and it trails only Loki, which pulled in a solid 10.9 million views. In short, a full-blown smash hit.
In the middle of DC Studios’ crisis, the success of Lanterns is a breath of fresh air. We’ll have to see whether it’s enough for Warner, after the merger with Paramount, to keep backing DC’s superheroes, or whether it’s just one bright spot. There are still a good few years to go before we find out!
