'Lanterns': Who's who in HBO's Green Lantern show?

The DC Universe expands further into the cosmos this month with the addition of "Lanterns" .

Created by Chris Mundy, Tom King and Damon Lindelof, the superhero show sees the veteran Green Lantern Hal Jordan (played by Kyle Chandler) take rookie John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) under his wing.

Wider parts of the Green Lantern Corps lore are incorporated in the story too, as the series unpacks what the famous space cops are all about.

At the same time, let's be real here for a second: for anybody who hasn't kept track of all the DC reboots, Infinite Crises on Corporate Earths and Ryan Reynolds in a green CGI costume , it can become overwhelming to even think about the Green Lantern mythology.

There are many heroes and villains scattered across an overly complex timeline, so let's attempt to break down who's who in terms of the confirmed characters for the show and what their backstory is from the comics.

Here's everything you need to know about the characters in HBO's "Lanterns" Hal Jordan (Image credit: HBO Max / DC Studios) First appearance: "Showcase" #22 (1956) Played by: Kyle Chandler While not the first Green Lantern introduced by DC (that honour belongs to Alan Scott), Hal Jordan is arguably the most famous of them all.

Debuting in the pages of "Showcase" #22, Hal found himself drawn to the spaceship belonging to Abin Sur, the Green Lantern of Sector 2814.

The dying alien instructed his power ring to find a worthy successor, and it did in the form of the test pilot known as Hal Jordan.

While known primarily as a hero, Hal had a memorable stint as the villainous Parallax in the '90s.

Hey, it was an edgy era, but at least he didn't have infinite pockets for his costume and badly drawn feet to go along with it! Ryan Reynolds played a live-action version of Hal Jordan in the heavily derided 2011 "Green Lantern" movie, but Kyle Chandler's interpretation in "Lanterns" is a more seasoned and less CGIed version of the character.

Interestingly enough, before Chandler was cast in the role, Josh Brolin was linked with the part.

John Stewart (Image credit: HBO Max / DC Studios) First appearance: "Green Lantern" #87 (1972) Played by: Aaron Pierre So here's the part where DC's comic book logic tangles itself into knots.

When Hal Jordan was selected as the Green Lantern, he received backup in Guy Gardner.

After Guy was injured, Hal received a backup for his backup: John Stewart.