DC Studios has officially landed its biggest streaming hit yet. Lanterns, the highly anticipated sci-fi mystery series starring Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler, pulled in a massive 9.3 million global viewers across HBO and HBO Max during its first three days of availability.

The impressive debut marks the top series premiere for DC Studios on the platform to date, securing a spot among the top five series premieres in HBO Max history. Of the 9.3 million global total, 6.6 million viewers tuned in from the U.S. alone.

The gritty, detective-style series outperformed the initial three-day opening numbers of several of HBO’s flagship heavyweights. Lanterns surpassed the multi-platform premiere of The Penguin, which drew 5.3 million U.S. viewers during its opening weekend, and also topped the debut of IT: Welcome to Derry, which pulled in 5.7 million viewers in its first three days, outpacing True Detective: Night Country as well.

Lanterns treats the ring like a service weapon — having it isn't the same as having the judgment to use it. That one choice is why the show works. #Lanterns pic.twitter.com/8CpVi0uO6S

— Mr Know-It-All (@MrKnowItAll) August 17, 2026

The series places Pierre as John Stewart and Chandler as Hal Jordan in a grounded, earthbound mystery that leans heavily into a True Detective-inspired investigation.

Critics have largely backed up the numbers. The premiere landed a “Generally Favorable” score on Metacritic and saw its Rotten Tomatoes rating climb higher in the days following its release, with reviewers praising the chemistry between Chandler and Pierre and the show’s willingness to ground one of DC’s more fantastical properties in something closer to a crime procedural.

Fans have taken to dissecting the show’s choices online as well, including X user @MrKnowItAll, who broke down why the series deliberately holds back on flashy ring constructs. In a shared video, he argued that if Hal’s ring could simply solve every problem on command, “your detective story is really over” jurisdiction, locked doors, and human observation would stop mattering the moment the most powerful object in the room could brute-force its way through any obstacle.

Instead, he pointed to the show’s more restrained choices as the real character work: when John panics while falling, he doesn’t conjure a weapon; he builds himself protection, “like somebody who understands structure,” while Hal, who has carried the ring for decades, casually produces something as mundane as a $20 bill.

“One man is discovering what the imagination does,” he said. “The other has carried this power long enough to use a miracle on a jukebox.” For @MrKnowItAll, that restraint isn’t holding the show back; it’s what finally makes the ring feel like it belongs to somebody.

New episodes of Lanterns air Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.