Is Hal Jordan actually dead in Lanterns?
It’s tempting to write his death off as a fakeout and that eventually we’ll learn the real Hal has been alive this whole time. Lanterns is good at throwing twists that catch you off guard, though it’s grounded approach to the Green Lantern mythos.
So it isn’t surprising that many fans swear that at some point in the show’s timeline, Hal was replaced with a clone. Are they on to something? Is there a Hal clone running around out there?
Reasons Supporting the “Hal Jordan is a Clone” Theory
In episode 5 “Lights Out” after John Stewart takes Hal’s ring following the Battle of Rushville, Hal tells John “they replaced me, they’ll replace you.” This is in reference to how the Guardians of the Universe plotted to replace Hal as Green Lantern with John and how John could suffer a similar fate one day.
Anyway, HBO Max’s Latin American Spanish subtitles labeled Hal as “Clon de Hal,” or Hal Clone, while the English captions just said “Hal.” HBO Max quietly fixed it afterward, but not before fans took screenshots.
Now there’s a good chance that the “Clon de Hal” caption was a translation error, but that is one hell of a slip-up.
Then there’s a scene from the mid-season trailer of Hal lying on the floor of what looks like a room inside of a hospital. He’s looking up at the mysterious figure, whose brown shoes are the things visible to the camera, muttering “What are you?” (Scene is at the 1:23 mark).
Hal is wearing pajamas that look similar to the ones John wore in episode 5. Hal also has a small circle on the inside of his arm, just like the one John got after Zoe regrew his skin thanks to her Manhunter healing technology.
Specifically, it seems to be a marker from a machine that can repair tissue and undo nerve damage. It’s possible that Hal’s DNA is used to clone him or maybe even bring him back from the dead.
But what’s really getting fan’s hopes up are comments filmmaker and DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn made on social media. In his response to criticism that he’s disrespecting Hal by killing him off in Lanterns, James made it clear that “Hal’s the star of TV series.” Which is evident with the character getting more screen time in an eight-episode season than he did in every live-action appearance he’s ever made.
“Kyle [Chandler] is amazing in the role. We more than respect him. We love him, despite his imperfections. Us knowing the time of his death, if that’s exactly what that is, is absolutely not the same thing as killing him off right away. Hal is a big reason why the show is so popular with fans & non fans alike; sorry if you don’t like it.”
“If that’s exactly what that is” kinda implies that Hal isn’t really dead, doesn’t it? There’s definitely more to Hal’s apparent demise than the show is willing to share with us right now.
There’s Just One Problem with the Clone Theory
Remember the powerful healing technology I mentioned that Zoe used to heal John? Well, Zoe said a drop of her blood needs to be injected into the person in order to start the healing process. Since Zoe is dead and the Manhunters are now extinct, doesn’t that make all her healing tech defunct?
I’m sure there are other ways to clone a full human being and we do see John and the Halogram travel to different planets. And with Sinestro free after he broke out of prison, it would make sense to find a way to bring Hal back since he was the one who defeated his old mentor in the past.
But will Lanterns go so far as to trick the audience into believing a main character is gone, just to pull the rug out from under our feet?
I mean it’s happened before in the world of fiction and it’s a popular trope in comics. For most heroes, death is temporary. Maybe the real reason the clone theory is so appealing is because it’s easier to believe than accepting that Hal is actually gone. We never really got the chance to get to know this version of Hal Jordan when we saw his frozen corpse at the end of episode 1. Then we did get to know him throughout the season with fans praising Kyle Chandler for adding a cynical, roguish charm to the character. Yeah, we got the Halogram but it’s just not the same.
There are a lot of interesting fan theories floating around the internet, but nothing has been confirmed. The show has given us just enough ambiguity to keep the odds of Hal being alive in our favor. But it also makes a strong case, through the funeral, through all that grief, that Hal Jordan really is gone. With three episodes left, we’ll find out whether Lanterns wants to honor that loss or undo it.
New episodes of Lanterns air every Sunday night on HBO and HBO Max at 9:00pm ET/6:00pm PT.
