According to recent reports, James Gunn's DC Studios' Lanterns has reportedly been delayed to the end of 2026 instead of the previously revealed Summer 2026 release. Based on DC's Green Lantern comic, the HBO drama is set to follow Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre's John Stewart.The show:"follows new recruit John Stewart and Lantern legend Hal Jordan, two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland."James Gunn, when talking about the DCU slate for 2026, had revealed that Lanterns was set to premiere in early 2026. However, recent reports have confirmed that this is not the case and the release has, in fact, been delayed to the end of the year.Keep reading to find out more.DCU delays the release of Lanterns far into the next year View this post on Instagram Instagram PostThe DCU slate has been extremely successful in 2025, with most of the releases being received extremely well. From Superman in the theaters to Peacemaker on OTT platforms, 2025 was a busy year. Similarly, the 2026 slate for DCU also had some big releases lined up. With one theatrical release and at least two OTT releases, 2026 had a significant lineup.It was previously revealed that the Lanterns series would be the first release from DCU and would be followed by Supergirl in theaters, and finally, Clayface. However, reports from The Hollywood Reporter suggested that the Lanterns release had been delayed until after Supergirl, marking it as the first release from the DCU Studio in 2026.These reports were later squashed by an official update from Warner Bros. Discovery, which revealed that the Kyle Chandler-starrer was aiming to debut in early 2026. Fans were quick to assume that the previous reports from The Hollywood Reporter were, in fact, untrue.In a recent development, HBO executive Casey Bloys provided an official update on the DCU release during a slate presentation, according to The Wrap. She confirmed that the Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre starrer was aiming for an "end of 2026 debut." She refrained from clarifying an actual release date, but this does explain things. The confirmed release update does explain why HBO Max has refrained from releasing any promotional material for the upcoming series, except for a single official image.Lanterns is set to be a grounded story; however, it does feature the Green Lantern powers and ought to require a lot of visual effects as well. Gunn has previously described it as a True Detective-grounded show with a couple of Green Lanterns in it:"who are space cops watching over Precinct Earth in it they discover a terrifying mystery that ties into our largest story of the DCU."The delayed release date presents an opportunity to iron out the kinks in the DCU series. Additionally, HBO has several high-stakes releases already scheduled for early 2026, from The Pitt Season 2 to A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and Euphoria Season 3, so a later release date might just benefit the DCU project.Keep following Soap Central for more such interesting updates on your favorite franchises!