HBO’s Green Lantern Series Adds The Blacklist Alum as Villain Sinestro

HBO’s Green Lantern series has found its villain.

Ulrich Thomsen (The Blacklist, Banshee) will play DC Comics villain Sinestro in the upcoming superhero series Lanterns, our sister site Deadline reports. Sinestro is described as “a former Green Lantern who turned rogue” who is “ruthless yet undeniably charming” and whose “manipulative nature drives his enduring obsession with his former mentee, Hal Jordan.”

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In October, the DC Studios production tapped Friday Night Lights alum Kyle Chandler to play Hal Jordan, while onetime Krypton resident Aaron Pierre was cast as John Stewart.

Thomsen has a history of playing heavies: He played bad guy Alexander Kirk on NBC’s The Blacklist and crime boss Kai Proctor on Cinemax’s Banshee. His other TV credits include The New Pope, Counterpart and Shining Girls.

Kelly Macdonald (Boardwalk Empire) will fill the series regular role of Sheriff Kerry, a “no-nonsense woman deeply devoted to her family and close-knit town. Her resilience, shaped by a complex past that’s hardened her resolve, anchors her when the community’s secrets begin to surface.” Per Deadline, at least, Kelly may turn out to be a love interest for Chandler’s Hal Jordan.

Produced by HBO in association with Warner Bros. Television and DC Studios, Lanterns was given an eight-episode, straight-to-series order back in June, with Damon Lindelof and Eisner Award winner Tom King set to pen the script. Chris Mundy (True Detective: Night CountryOzark) will serve as showrunner and executive-produce with Lindelof and King.

Described by DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran as being “very much in the vein of True Detective,” Lanterns will follow new recruit John Stewart and legend Hal Jordan, two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, Earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.

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“John Stewart and Hal Jordan are two of DC’s most compelling characters,” DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn said in June, “and Lanterns brings them to life in an original detective story that is a foundational part of the unified DCU we’re launching next summer with [the feature film] Superman.”

Chapter 1 of that “unified DCU” — dubbed “Gods and Monsters” — officially launched with the animated series Creature Commandos, which debuted on Max in December. On the film side, the new DCU will kick off with Gunn’s Superman, starring David Corenswet (The Politician) and flying into theaters July 11, 2025.

Want scoop on Lanterns, or for any other DC TV show ? Email InsideLine@tvline.com, and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line!

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