Fans Believe DCU’s ‘Lanterns’ Villain May Have Been Spoiled

Fans believe a recent photo from the set of Lanterns might have revealed the series’ villain — and it’s one who could have large ramifications for the DCU.

With Peacemaker Season 2 having concluded its eight-episode run, Lanterns will be the next entry in the DCU. It will be released sometime before Supergirl opens in theaters on Jun. 26, 2026, with many expecting a spring release date on HBO. While we know the series will center on John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) and Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler), not much else is known about the plot.

The X account @JoshDenofNerds shared a photo of what they describe as “from the official DCU Lanterns show,” one which features the Green Lantern logo with an interesting swirl in the center. The user says that “A Redditor made a video pointing out that it might tease The Centre, and WB forced him to TAKE IT DOWN.” No word has come from WB at this time, and there is no concrete proof that the image itself is actually from the Lanterns production. Yet the user is implying that the swirl at the center is a reference to the Centre from DC Comics, and possibly to it being the central mystery and threat at the heart of Lanterns.

What Exactly is The Centre?

Originally known as Dinosaur Island and created by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru in The War that Time Forgot from 1960, the Centre was reimagined by Dawryn Cooke in his acclaimed miniseries DC New Frontier. A sentient landmass that can float and uses the dinosaurs that live on it as minions, the Centre observes humanity’s evolution and sees the species as a threat, with the Justice League uniting to stop it. In the comics, the Centre is observed throughout human history in a spiral pattern similar to the one seen in the image.

The idea of the Centre being in Lanterns has gained a lot more traction following the conclusion of Peacemaker Season 2. The finale’s final moments saw Christopher Smith / Peacemaker stranded on the interdimensional prison world Salvation, with monstrous creatures which many took to be dinosaurs. When Lanterns was announced in January 2023, DCU steward James Gunn said the story’s central mystery would be key to the larger story of the franchise, and now, with confirmation that the Salvation storyline will also tie into Lanterns, it seems plausible. Yet it also feels like a stretch, given that the Centre would be on Earth while the location Christopher Smith was transported to was in another dimension.

There are a lot of questions surrounding Lanterns‘ exact plot and how some of the more cosmic characters will factor into what has been described as an Earth-bound mystery. Ulrich Thomsen is confirmed to be playing the Green Lantern foe Sinestro. Paul Ben-Victor is listed as playing an alien named Antaan, with many suspecting him to be the Red Lantern Atrocitus. Garret Dillahunt’s character of William Macon also has many suspecting he’ll be the villain Black Hand, the central villain in the Blackest Night crossover. There are a lot of potential stories that Lanterns could draw from, and while the Centre is an interesting rumor, it’s still, at the moment, just a rumor.