Lanterns' Manhunters explained: who are the supposed villains of the Green Lantern TV show on HBO Max?

Date:
Mon, 24 Aug 2026 05:00:00 +0000

Description:
Lanterns episode 2 has unveiled the HBO TV show's supposed villains here's what you need to know about them.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Lanterns episode 2 has made its HBO Max debut and the sci-fi crime drama appears to have revealed that a mysterious race called the Manhunters are the villains of its 2016 storyline.

So, who are they? Where did they come from? And why are they seemingly being set up as the chief antagonists of HBO's Green Lantern TV show? Let's take a look at the Manhunters' comic book history to answer or at least try to answer these questions. Who are the Manhunters in DC Comics? The Manhunters are a sentient android race conceived by the Guardians of the Universe (Image credit: DC Comics) Created by comic book legend Jack Kirby, the Manhunters
are a race of extraterrestrial robots that made their debut in 1st Issue Special #5 in August 1975. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video
here: Built by the immortal beings known as the Guardians of the Universe,
the Manhunters were the Guardians' first attempt to create an intergalactic police force that would patrol the universe and combat any threats they encountered.

Unfortunately, these supposed peacekeepers evolved to the point where they became sentient, started to resent the limitations imposed by their creators, and began carrying out their own form of justice namely, that the only way
to maintain peace was to wipe out all organic life in the known universe. You may like Who is Sinestro in Lanterns episode 2? Comic book origins, powers, and more Lanterns episode 1 ending explained: is [spoiler] really dead in the HBO Max show? Lanterns: release date, trailer, cast, plot, and what else we know about the DC Universe's Green Lantern TV show

After the Manhunters committed mass genocide in a catastrophic event known as the Massacre of Sector-666, and then attempted a coup against their masters, the Guardians realized they were too dangerous to keep around and set about destroying them. However, some Manhunters survived, fled to distant planets
to hide among the local population, and rebuilt their numbers in the hopes of one day crushing the Guardians and their space-cop agency replacement, the Green Lantern Corps. What do we learn about the Manhunters in Lanterns
episode 2? The head of a group of shapeshifting aliens drops some key Manhunter lore in Lanterns episode 2 (Image credit: HBO Max) We're only introduced to the concept of Manhunters in episode 2 of Lanterns . Nonetheless, they're seemingly being set up as the primary villains of this season's 2016 narrative, if not the full season. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

So, what do we know about them so far? According to the leader of a covert group of shapeshifting aliens who kidnap John Stewart midway through this episode, the Manhunters' origins in the DC Universe ( DCU ) are nearly identical to those of their creation in the source material, i.e., they're synthetic beings manufactured by the Guardians.

Furthermore, the Manhunters are so technologically advanced that they can build new bodies and take the form of a world's native alpha species. That way, they can remain undetected and, using technology far beyond the limits
of those they secretly live among, carry out their brutal form of justice without interference.

It's clear that the Manhunters committed atrocities in the DCU, too. Indeed, as Stewart and, by proxy, we learn, entire species were wiped out by the Manhunters before they mysteriously disappeared. What to read next 'I didn't think they'd let us do it': Lanterns creators on episode 1's big plot twist Lanterns episode 1 release date and launch time on HBO Max Lanterns review: a beacon of hope for the DCU after Supergirl's disastrous box office run John Stewart experiences this alien race's collective loss through some form of memory-based device (Image credit: HBO Max) Despite them vanishing without a trace, a Manhunter survived on whatever planet Stewart's captors are from
and, in their leader's words, "lived among us as they quietly engineered a holocaust". Given the nature of this mass extermination, the Guardians soon dispatched a Green Lantern to arrest the Manhunter and ensure it would be executed.

However, Stewart's kidnappers believe the Manhunter wasn't killed and now secretly lives among Rushville's human population. Unfortunately, when they tried to get close to this Manhunter to enact their revenge, four of them
were killed. Does that death count ring any bells? It should, because their murders are the same ones being investigated by Stewart and Jordan.

Unable to re-enter Rushville without being detected themselves, the group's leader gives Stewart an ultimatum: find the Manhunter in the next 48 hours,
or the remaining shapeshifters will walk into the center of Rushville and
blow themselves up. Yep, that means they belong to the same extraterrestrial race as the individual who was interrogated by Jordan in episode 1, and who detonated the explosive device in his skeleton at Rushville police station once he was compromised.

Reluctantly, Stewart agrees. Despite the group's leader warning him not to tell Jordan what they discussed, Stewart does so, which leads Jordan to question whether Abin Sur aka the Green Lantern that Jordan replaced was tasked with finding the Manhunter and executing it at the behest of the Guardians before his death, which presumably came at the hands of the Manhunter. Who is the Manhunter that Hal Jordan and John Stewart must find?
Is Garrett Dillahunt's Will Macon actually the Manhunter in disguise? (Image credit: John Johnson/HBO Max) That's the big question. Logic dictates that it's someone who was at the football game and, right now, the only other named character we know to be present at that game was Sheriff Kerry Kane. On the basis that she's conducting her own investigation into the deaths of
those four aliens, though, I think we can rule her out.

So, which other characters could be the Manhunter in disguise? Will Macon is the obvious choice he's certainly mysterious and, based on his hostile approach to extraterrestrials, would fit the mould of someone who doesn't
want to be found by, say, a group of aliens seeking revenge for their race's near-extinction.

That said, it seems that he answers to someone else i.e., his so-called 'benefactor' further up the food chain. As such, I'm not convinced that the Macon patriarch is the Manhunter. I don't think we can rule out Zoe Macon, either (Image credit: HBO Max) There are other possible candidates in the DCU Chapter One TV show. Will's son Billy is one after all, he's cosied up to Jordan as his lawyer, which is a sure-fire way of disarming a potential opponent and throwing them off the scent about who killed the four aliens at the Nebraskan football game.

I don't think we can overlook Zoe, aka Will's wife, either. And, with Stewart being told by his kidnappers that Manhunters are deceptive beings, it's not a stretch to assume that she's trying to manipulate Stewart in a bid to drive a bigger wedge between him and Jordan, which would impact their own investigation.

Of course, the Manhunter could be someone we haven't even met yet, so we'll have to wait for future episodes to air on HBO Max , aka one of the best streaming services , to see if anyone else could be the Manhunter. Currently, though, I'm going to evoke Jordan and say my gut's telling me it's Will, Billy, or Zoe.

While we wait for more clues, get the full lowdown on Sinestro following his introduction at the end of Lanterns episode 2 . Then, vote in the poll below and/or leave a comment to let me know who you think the Manhunter is. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



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