Lanterns Episode 4 Teases The Arrival Of A Major Green Lantern Villain (But There's A Catch)

"Lanterns" Episode 4 introduces a character by the name of Hector Hammond, a name that should be familiar to any Green Lantern fan. But the show quickly switches things up by revealing the character to be someone else entirely — which raises the question of what on earth the writers are trying to do with this latest fake-out.

"Lanterns" is a "True Detective" meets "Watchmen" style crime drama that, by keeping things focused on John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) and Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and their backstories, has delivered on its promise of a grounded superhero outing. But the show hasn't avoided the more fantastical elements of its source material altogether. In Episode 2, we saw Hal fly to a space prison where his former mentor Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen) is being held, and there's been plenty of Power Ring action. Now, the show has gone back to the comics to give us its take on one of Green Lantern's best-known villains. Well ... sort of.

Hector Hammond first appeared in "Green Lantern" (Vol. 2) #5 back in April 1961. Created by John Broome and Gil Kane, the character was a human who stumbled upon a meteor which gave him genius-level intelligence, psychic powers, and a gigantic head. Since then, the character has remained a part of the DC comic book universe, reappearing in multiple Green Lantern stories and even facing off against Superman. Peter Sarsgaard played the villain in the notorious 2011 "Green Lantern" movie, and now Hammond is back on-screen, this time played by Jason Manuel Olazábal ("Dexter").

At least, that's how it appeared. But "Lanterns" Episode 4 seems to be toying with fans, as it turns out Olazábal's version of the character is actually an engineering student by the name of Hector Gutierrez.

"Lanterns" Episode 4 sees Hal Jordan and John Stewart home in on the main villain of the series: The Manhunter. After Zoe Macon (Poorna Jagannathan) is blown up by a sky laser, Hal flies into orbit to retrieve the satellite responsible. Sheriff Kerry Kane (Kelly Macdonald) then uses the serial number to trace the satellite to a company called Atlas Inc. the owner of which is named Hector Hammond. According to Kane, Hammond runs several "hi-tech slaughter houses" but what makes him particularly interesting is that there's no record of his existence prior to 1986 — the year Lantern Abin Sur crash-landed on Earth and transferred his Power Ring to Hal.

Armed with this new information, John and Hal set off to interrogate Hector at a nearby slaughterhouse. Once there, they witness the advanced technology in action when a cow is diced up by lasers right before their eyes. The duo then confront Hector in his office, where he claims to be the Manhunter they're looking for. But Hal knows something is up, and eventually coerces Hector into admitting that he's no alien.

Instead, he claims to be Hector Gutierrez, an engineering student who was approached by Will Macon (Garret Dillahunt) to act as a decoy. According to Hector, Macon offered him "incredible technology" that he could use to help his family and his community — presumably referring to the slaughterhouse tech we previously witnessed. He then claims the Manhunter is Macon himself, but as we discover on Hal and John's car journey home, it seems the real Manhunter is Zoe Macon. Now, we have a new mystery. Who is this Hector Gutierrez, and why did he use the name of one of the great Green Lantern villains as a decoy?

"Lanterns" began by clarifying the DC Universe Timeline, but since then it has added mystery upon mystery. Hal Jordan's death at the end of "Lanterns" Episode 1 is by far the biggest, but we also still don't know for sure whether Zoe Macon is, in fact, the Manhunter. We also don't know why, in the 2026 timeline, John Stewart isn't wearing a Power Ring, or why Nathan Fillion's Guy Gardner appears to be Earth's Green Lantern in "Superman." Now, we have yet another mystery: Did we just meet the DC Universe's version of Hector Hammond or not?

It would seem the answer is no, considering the character admitted to being named Hector Gutierrez. So Hector Hammond was just a decoy name? Why? Does this mean there is no Hector Hammond in the DC Universe? Or is it hinting at Hector Gutierrez eventually becoming the bobble-headed bad guy in future? It's all a bit confusing, really.

"Lanterns" is already fairly convoluted in terms of its multiple timelines and use of comic book lore. So far the show is trying to act as a character study of both John Stewart and Hal Jordan, while simultaneously introducing audiences to the Guardians of the Universe, the Manhunters, and other characters from Green Lantern history. It's also furthering the overall DC Universe timeline and even hinting at future developments within the franchise, most notably by dropping multiple references to the DCU's Batman throughout its first three episodes. We've also got Paul Ben-Victor's Antaan on the periphery of the story, who may or may not turn out to be the villain Atrocitus. Now, we've got this fake Hector Hammond, which at this stage feels like one mystery too far.