To really make sense of the Green Lantern Corps, it helps to start with the mysterious figures who set everything in motion: the Guardians of the Universe. “Lanterns” has already name-dropped them more than once, and if the DC series continues beyond its first run, these cosmic power players are likely to become even more important. For viewers curious about their origins — and why Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) seems to have such a tense relationship with them — Looper’s explainer video above breaks down the essential backstory.
In DC Comics lore, the Guardians are best known for ruling from the planet Oa, often depicted seated high above others in their massive chairs. But their story began elsewhere, on Maltus. There, a Maltusian scientist named Krona built a machine designed to witness the birth of the universe. The experiment went disastrously wrong, and the fallout split the Maltusians into three separate factions. One of those groups eventually evolved into the Guardians of the Universe. After settling on Oa, they set out to bring structure to a disorderly cosmos — first by creating the robotic peacekeepers known as the Manhunters.
That history matters because a Manhunter appears to be shaping up as a major threat on “Lanterns.” The Guardians originally designed these artificial enforcers to police the universe, but Krona’s influence twisted their programming into something far more dangerous. The Manhunters came to view emotion itself as a flaw, deciding that any sentient life capable of feeling was a potential menace. Their extremism led to the massacre of Sector 666, with one survivor later becoming Atrocitus, the first Red Lantern — and a Green Lantern enemy who may already be hiding in plain sight on “Lanterns.” Although the Guardians destroyed most of the Manhunters, the comics made it clear that enough survived to keep causing trouble for the Green Lantern Corps.
How will the Guardians of the Universe factor into Lanterns?
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The Guardians’ influence reaches well beyond Green Lantern mythology. Across DC Comics history, they have been tied to several major pieces of superhero lore. They helped guide the spacecraft carrying infant Kal-El to Earth, shaping the future of Superman. They also interfered with Martian society, separating Martians into green and white factions and embedding in them a deep fear of fire. With power and reach on that scale, it is no surprise that the Guardians often appear at the center of major DC storylines.
Their history is also marked by catastrophe. During the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” saga, the Anti-Monitor attacks the Guardians, wiping out a third of their ranks. They eventually withdraw from the universe, only to return in time for “Emerald Twilight,” one of the most infamous Green Lantern stories. In that arc, Hal Jordan is overtaken by Parallax, the cosmic embodiment of fear. His fall into villainy leads him to kill many of the Guardians, though they are later restored in “Green Lantern: Rebirth.”
So far, “Lanterns” has only referred to the Guardians rather than fully bringing them into the story. However, co-creator Chris Mundy has confirmed that Laura Linney’s character, seen in promotional material for the series, is in fact a Guardian of the Universe. That detail may surprise longtime DC fans, since the Guardians are traditionally portrayed as small, blue-skinned beings rather than human-looking figures.
Still, there is comic book precedent for a Guardian adopting a human appearance. Appa Ali Apsa famously took human form while traveling across America with Hal Jordan and Oliver Queen in the “Hard Traveling Heroes” storyline. Whether “Lanterns” is using a similar disguise or setting up a different twist remains to be seen. For a fuller understanding of what the show may be building toward, Looper’s complete Guardians of the Universe video above offers the deeper DC Comics context.
