‘Lanterns’ Hits a Series High With 10 Million Viewers for Episode 3

It looks like viewers aren’t abandoning their rings anytime soon.

Lanterns continues to build its audience, with Episode 3 delivering the HBO series its biggest numbers yet. The episode attracted 10 million global viewers during its first three days, including 7 million viewers in the United States, according to Warner Bros. Discovery.

That gives the DC Studios drama a new series high and, perhaps more importantly, shows that the audience is growing rather than simply showing up for the premiere and moving on.

When Lanterns debuted on August 16, its premiere brought in 9.3 million global viewers during its first three days, with 6.6 million coming from the U.S. Since then, the pilot has continued accumulating viewers and has now surpassed 20 million globally. HBO Max also says the series ranks among the platform’s five biggest series launches and remains its biggest premiere for a DC Studios series.

And Episode 3 certainly wasn't playing things safe. The hour put much of its attention on Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart, digging deeper into his history and the years of preparation that eventually put him on the path toward becoming a Green Lantern.

Through flashbacks, viewers learned more about John’s upbringing with his parents, John Stewart Sr. and Bernadette, played by J. Alphonse Nicholson and Jasmine Cephas Jones. The episode also featured Laura Linney as a Guardian evaluating whether John is truly worthy of eventually replacing Hal Jordan.

For a series that began with plenty of attention surrounding both Pierre's John and Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan, seeing a heavily John-focused episode become the show's most-watched installment so far is noteworthy.

It also suggests Lanterns may be finding something every weekly series wants: viewers who aren't just sampling the premiere but are sticking around and bringing a few more people with them. The series follows John and Hal as the two intergalactic cops investigate a murder in the American heartland that becomes connected to a much larger mystery.

Lanterns was co-created by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof and Tom King, with James Gunn and Peter Safran among the executive producers. With the audience reaching a new high only three episodes into the season, all eyes will now be on whether Lanterns can keep that momentum going.

New episodes of Lanterns air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and stream simultaneously on HBO Max.