HBO mysteriously pulls trailers for one of 2026's biggest TV shows

2026 is a big one for TV shows, with the likes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Stranger Things Tales from '85, and Silo all making us stump up for our various subscription services.

In the world of comic book adaptations, we've already had Wonder Man from Disney, while Amazon has wrapped Invincible season 4, is currently airing the final season of The Boys, and is queuing Spider-Noir for May 25.

Let's not count out HBO, and in the aftermath of Damon Lindelof's superb (but short-lived) Watchmen TV series, another comic book caper is on the way. HBO is remembered for greats like The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones, and more, although it doesn't often dabble in the world of capes and cowls.

Although HBO Max is currently riding a wave of controversy with Euphoria season 3, there's more drama behind the scenes of Lanterns.

Starring Friday Night Lights' Kyle Chandler and Rebel Ridge's Aaron Pierre as Hal Jordan and John Stewart, this superhero series is based on DC's Green Lanterns comic books. You might remember Ryan Reynolds portrayed Jordan in 2011's hated Green Lantern.

Still, as James Gunn tries to steer the sheep of the DCU, Lanterns promises to be a very different affair as it takes its cues from HBO's lauded True Detective. With so much intrigue surrounding Lanterns, its first trailer was a smash hit ahead of the show's August release. Strangely, it looks like all records of the trailer have been scrubbed from official channels, leading some to fear the worst.

Posting on Reddit, one person asked: "What does this mean? Could this be tied to the modest ‘backlash’ over lack of colour etc.. They seemed quite confident in the project otherwise."

When the Lanterns trailer first dropped, many commented on its True Detective vibe, although they criticized it for a notable grey color palette – especially a lack of green.

Some even made their own more vibrant version that seemed more in the vein of Gunn's vision in 2025's Superman.

The Lanterns trailer can't be found on any official channels or accounts for DC or HBO Max, which seems odd as we've just got a range of official posters and motion graphics.

Although it's on several third-party accounts, the only official place you can find the Lanterns trailer is Gunn’s original post on X.

Sleuths think they've cracked what's going on, with the Lanterns trailer potentially being pulled due to a licensing issue with music. The first trailer includes a remixed version of Bruce Springsteen's "State Trooper", which could be causing an issue.

Over on Reddit, someone replied: "It’s probably to do with the licensing of the song used in the trailer, they may have to renew or replace it."

Others suggested that the issue would've surely been sorted long ago, although another added: "This has happened with other HBO and DC trailers. Peacemaker and Creature Commandos have both had their trailer songs changed. Euphoria had a teaser trailer removed. Even going back to Zack Snyder justice league it had a trailer removed. This isn’t new."

It's not exactly been smooth sailing for Lanterns, with legendary comic book writer Grant Morrison already slamming its title. Taking to Substack, Morrison vented: "Green Lanterns’ is a much more evocative and dramatic title than ‘Lanterns’, (just as ‘Raise the Red Lantern’ is a better movie title than ‘Raise the Lantern’), and anyone who can’t grasp why that is shouldn’t be anywhere near superhero stories."

His rant continued: "The show might even be good, but how much better could this stuff be if studios were willing to hire the right people for the job instead of phoning their embarrassed friends to water the source material down? Hollywood will die of insularity and inbreeding."

We doubt that the Lanterns trailer has been pulled to change its name or add some more color, but with more teasers surely on the way, we hope that creators Lindelof, Chris Mundy, and Tom King can turn things around.