How Black Hand Could Appear in HBO’s Lanterns Series

Throughout Lanterns, the threat of a Manhunter—an android built by getDateTime the Guardians of the Universe to enforce order—has been prominent. Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) investigate a series of murders in Rushville. The latest episode of Lanterns, titled “Lights Out,” closes the case by revealing that Zoe Macon (Poorna Jagannathan) is the Manhunter. She installed herself in Rushville after Jordan’s predecessor, Abin Sur, brought her to Earth. Stewart eventually takes Zoe out with a well-placed rifle shot, yet Lanterns might have been teasing the presence of another iconic Green Lantern villain.

Before the reveal that Zoe was the Manhunter, her husband Will (Garret Dillahunt) was the primary suspect. Will’s obsession with fighting alien invaders seemed to fit a Manhunter’s programming, but Zoe later saved his life in exchange for his protection. Macon armed his men with weapons that emit a smoky black fog capable of canceling out the power of a Green Lantern ring. A similar weapon is utilized by the villain known as Black Hand.

Black Hand is at the center of one of Green Lantern’s best storylines

Black Hand first appeared in Green Lantern (vol. 2) #29 by John Broome and Gil Kane. He was revealed to be William Hand, the son of a well-off family. Growing disillusioned with his family, Hand turns to crime and builds a device that can siphon energy from a Green Lantern ring. He later receives an update in the Green Lantern: Secret Origin miniseries by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis. That story reveals he is obsessed with death, and his power-draining ray was constructed by the future Red Lantern, Atrocitus.

Eventually, Black Hand becomes a threat to the entire DC Universe during the Blackest Night storyline, which Johns and Reis also wrote. After killing his entire family and committing suicide, he becomes the head of the Black Lantern Corps and resurrects a host of dead superheroes and supervillains, intending to summon the avatar of death known as Nekron. Blackest Night is often regarded as one of the greatest Green Lantern stories. If Lanterns is building up to it, the show has likely introduced Black Hand.

Lanterns might have laid the groundwork for Black Hand

Garret Dillahunt might have revealed that he would be playing Black Hand in Lanterns. In an interview prior to the series release, Dillahunt floated the theory that there was more to William Macon than meets the eye:

“It might be a front for some other kind of character that’s very familiar to you all…I don’t want to rule out the possibility that maybe ‘William Macon’ is just a secret identity that had to be created. It was fun to be able to create him from scratch—at least that facet of the character.”

That phrasing, combined with the energy draining guns that Macon used, hints that Dillahunt might return as Black Hand. The character returned from the dead in the comics, so bringing him back as a Black Lantern fits established lore. There is also the storyline set in 2026, where John Stewart finds a seemingly dead Hal Jordan. Macon had a strong motive to kill Jordan, especially with the role Jordan played in Zoe’s death. With only three episodes left, Lanterns has plenty of room to introduce Black Hand.

Source: Polygon