The increasingly contentious relationship between Hal Jordan and John Stewart in HBO’s Lanterns was partially informed by a surprising real-world political event: the 2024 transition from Joe Biden to Kamala Harris at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket.
Writers and executive producers Vanessa Baden Kelly and Justin Britt-Gibson revealed the connection during a lengthy discussion with The Ringer’s Midnight Boys, where they explained the ideas surrounding age, succession, and generational resentment that helped shape the two Green Lanterns.
Their comments provide new context for one of the defining relationships of Lanterns, particularly after a season that has repeatedly portrayed Hal as an aging hero confronting his own mortality and eventual replacement by the much younger John.
“Lanterns” writers say the show’s buddy cop relationship was informed by the context of the 2024 DNC and Biden dropping out to let Kamala run for president.
Hal Jordan finds John Stewart “threatening,” as he’s “young and black and handsome and strong and confident.” pic.twitter.com/S0mLDfqe60
— Ezydu (@ezradulis) September 29, 2026
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“You’re looking at your elders, you’re like, when are y’all going to give us some space?” Britt-Gibson explained while discussing the generational conflict behind the series. “Name an industry and I’ll tell you somebody who’s frustrated that they’ve hit a ceiling because somebody else won’t get out of the way.”
That concept became central to how the writers approached Hal.
“What does it mean when you are the superhero and have been the superhero for decades and you’ve been holding on to this sort of legacy, and then all of a sudden this young guy comes around,” Britt-Gibson said.
John’s individual characteristics were also deliberately positioned as threatening to the veteran Green Lantern.
“Young and black,” one panelist said.
“And handsome, and strong, and confident. It’s threatening,” came the response from Britt-Gibson. “And fearless, of course. That’s threatening.”
The writers then revealed that the extraordinary political events of 2024 became part of that creative conversation.
From Biden And Harris To Hal And John
While Lanterns was being developed, the Democratic Party was confronting its own debate over age and political succession.
Concerns about then-President Joe Biden’s age had become a major issue during the 2024 election. Biden ultimately withdrew from the presidential race on July 21, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, who subsequently became the Democratic nominee.
The political upheaval was unfolding while the Lanterns writers were discussing similar themes involving Hal and John.
“Right as we were having the conversation, we had already started talking about it and breaking it, the Democratic National Convention was coming up,” Baden Kelly explained. “That’s when we were trying to figure out who is going to be the front runner here. Is it going to be Kamala or is it going to be Biden?”
Joe Biden being interviewed by Jimmy Kimmel – YouTube, Jimmy Kimmel Live!
According to the writer, this situation “just amplified what we were already talking about.”
The team reportedly didn’t simply watch those political events unfold independently of their work on the series, either.
“We would talk in depth about what that looked like for both parties, what that looked like for our show, what that looks like in politics, what that looks like in our industry,” Baden Kelly said. The writers then offered perhaps the clearest explanation of how those broader real-world observations found their way into Lanterns. “And really we just extrapolated characters that we knew in real life and dumped it into those guys.”
These comments mean the writers were consciously discussing contemporary presidential politics while constructing the relationship between two of DC’s most recognizable superheroes. That’s something many DC fans likely could have done without.
A Different Context For Hal Jordan
The revelation casts the series’ treatment of Hal in a different light. Throughout Lanterns, Hal has been presented as a man approaching the end of his journey rather than a superhero at the height of his powers. John arrives as the younger alternative: physically imposing, confident, and capable of continuing forward when Hal no longer can.
Their relationship has consequently been defined almost as much by resentment and distrust as mentorship.
Their starting point was not simply the familiar buddy-cop formula of pairing an experienced veteran with an inexperienced rookie. They were interested in the larger question of what happens when someone who has occupied an important position for decades suddenly finds a younger successor standing behind him.
Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan in the Lanterns trailer – YouTube @HBO
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More importantly, they were interested in the frustration of the younger generation waiting for that position to become available.
That theme has become increasingly apparent as the season progressed.
Hal has been steadily stripped of the qualities traditionally associated with the character. His history is filled with regret and failure, his relationship with John becomes increasingly volatile, and the series repeatedly reminds audiences that his time is running out.
Episode 6 ultimately makes that succession literal, removing Hal while allowing John’s journey to continue.
Politics Were Part Of A Much Larger Conversation
The Biden-Harris comments about Lanterns are particularly notable. Baden Kelly has previously discussed how race informed the writers’ approach to John Stewart. While discussing Episode 3 with GQ, she explained that the writers explored ideas surrounding Black exceptionalism while developing John’s childhood and family.
“We talked a lot about Black exceptionalism and extraordinary individuals,” Baden Kelly said, citing Tiger Woods and Venus and Serena Williams among the examples considered while constructing John’s upbringing.
The Midnight Boys conversation goes considerably further, with the writers also discussing race, Hal Jordan’s characterization, and changes made to John Stewart after Aaron Pierre was cast in the role.
A screenshot of Oprah Winfrey and Kamala Harris from the Harris Campaign Town Call – YouTube, Kamala Harris
Those comments raise their own questions about the creative philosophy behind Lanterns and deserve separate examination.
For now, however, the writers have provided an unusually candid explanation for one of the fundamental conflicts at the center of the series. The deteriorating relationship between Hal Jordan and John Stewart was conceived partly through conversations about an older generation holding onto power while a younger generation waits impatiently behind it.
And while those ideas were being developed, the writers were watching one of the most consequential examples of political succession in recent American history unfold in real time. The result eventually became part of the relationship audiences are now watching between Hal Jordan and John Stewart in Lanterns.
How do you feel about Lanterns being inspired by Biden and Harris? Sound off and let us know!
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