Editor’s Note: The following article contains spoilers for Lanterns Episode 6.
The latest episode of Lanterns, “Bad Optics,” finally brought the series into the broader DCU. Some of the references were brief, like the mention of “a bat guy” in Gotham and “a giant starfish,” confirming that the events of The Suicide Squad still take place in this universe. The biggest connection, though, was the appearance of Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion). Superman featured Gardner as the current Green Lantern, with most of Lanterns showcasing the events that led to Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) vacating the position and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) outright rejecting it. “Bad Optics” features another major Superman connection that fans might have missed.
During “Bad Optics,” Stewart contacts Gardner and asks him to retrieve Jordan’s Green Lantern ring so he can bury Jordan, who’s seemingly dead, in his uniform. Gardner refuses, as the ring is locked on Oa and grabbing it would alert the Guardians of the Universe; it isn’t until Stewart goads him that he reluctantly agrees. After securing the ring, Gardner says that if the Guardians found out what he did he’d be “on the first beam to the Phantom Zone.” The Phantom Zone is arguably one of the most terrifying concepts in the Superman mythos, and its confirmation hints at villains who could challenge the Man of Steel.
The Phantom Zone Contains Some of Superman’s Deadliest Foes
A still from James Gunn’s Superman.
First appearing in Adventure Comics #283, the Phantom Zone is an alternate dimension where time loses all meaning; anyone who enters the Zone also becomes a psychic “phantom,” forced to roam its expanses for what seems like eternity. Superman’s biological father, Jor-El, used this realm as a prison for Krypton’s worst criminals, building a projector that could beam anyone into the Zone. It remains to be seen how the Guardians of the Universe can access the Zone, but Gardner’s knowledge of it continues to cement him as one of the DCU’s biggest players, as Nathan Fillion pointed out in a Variety interview.
“It’s nice that there’s a bunch of us witnessing the birth of the DC Universe that’s being thrown at us in these pieces, and Guy Gardner is becoming a thread in the backdrop. He’s a very public part. I think that says a lot about who he is.”
The confirmation of the Phantom Zone also hints that it’s home to one of Superman’s deadliest enemies, General Zod. Zod was sent to the Zone after an attempted coup on Krypton, and often escapes to take vengeance on Superman, as Jor-El was both his former friend and the man who sentenced him. Zod isn’t the only threat locked within the Phantom Zone, as Superman’s faced off against foes like the mad scientist Jax-Ur and even Doomsday, the monstrous creature who killed the Man of Steel. If James Gunn winds up making more Superman movies in the DCU, the Phantom Zone could make for an excellent set piece.
Collider Exclusive · Universe Personality Quiz Which Iconic Universe Do You Belong in the Most? Star Wars · Lord of the Rings · Harry Potter · Game of Thrones · Star Trek
Five legendary universes. Five completely different visions of what the world could be — or already was. One of them is the world your instincts, your values, and your particular way of existing were built for. Eight questions will tell you which one.
🚀Star Wars
💍Lord of the Rings
🧙Harry Potter
👑Game of Thrones
🖖Star Trek
01
What gives your life its deepest sense of meaning? Every universe is built around a different answer to this question.
02
Which kind of world do you most want to inhabit? The environment shapes who you become. Choose carefully.
03
How do you prefer your conflicts resolved? The shape of a world’s conflicts tells you everything about its soul.
04
Who do you want beside you when things get difficult? Your ideal companions reveal the world you were made for.
05
What is your relationship with power? How you seek, wield, or resist power is the map of who you are.
06
How does your universe treat good and evil? A world’s moral architecture tells you more about it than any map.
07
What role would you naturally fall into? Every universe has archetypes. Which one fits you without trying?
08
What do you ultimately believe about the future? The answer to this is the clearest window into which universe already lives inside you.
Your Universe Has Been Chosen You Belong In…
Your answers point to the iconic universe your values, your instincts, and your particular way of seeing the world were built for. This is where you would find your people — and your purpose.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
You believe in the cause — in the idea that freedom is worth fighting for even when the odds are impossible and the empire is vast.
You are drawn to the moral clarity of a universe where hope itself is a form of resistance.
You’d find your people in the Rebellion — a ragtag coalition of true believers held together by conviction more than resources.
Star Wars is fundamentally a story about ordinary people choosing to matter in an extraordinary conflict — and that is exactly your kind of story.
The Force may or may not be with you. But the will to use it for something larger than yourself certainly is.
Middle-earth
Lord of the Rings
You understand, in the deepest part of yourself, that the journey matters as much as the destination — and that the world’s beauty is worth protecting even at great cost.
Middle-earth is a world of ancient wonder, deep friendship, and a darkness that only retreats when enough small acts of courage accumulate.
You would thrive here because you value the fellowship more than the glory — the road more than the arrival.
Tolkien’s universe rewards patience, loyalty, and the willingness to carry something heavy across a very long distance.
Those are not burdens to you. They are simply how you move through the world.
The Wizarding World
Harry Potter
You believe that love, loyalty, and doing what’s right are not naive sentiments — they are the most powerful forces in any world, magical or otherwise.
The Wizarding World is a place of wonder hidden in plain sight, where learning is transformative and the bonds you form at school follow you into every battle.
You would flourish here because you take both the magic and the friendships seriously — and you understand that one without the other is incomplete.
Harry Potter’s universe ultimately rewards those who choose to stand for something even when standing is terrifying.
That choice — made quietly, without guarantee — is something you understand completely.
Westeros · The Known World
Game of Thrones
You see the world clearly — its power structures, its hypocrisies, its brutal arithmetic — and you are not paralysed by that clarity. You use it.
Westeros is a world that rewards intelligence, adaptability, and the willingness to understand that every alliance is also a negotiation.
You would survive here — possibly thrive here — because you don’t confuse the world as it is with the world as you’d like it to be.
Game of Thrones is a story about what happens when the idealists and the realists collide. You are sharp enough to know which one lasts longer.
Winter always comes. You are already prepared.
The United Federation of Planets
Star Trek
You believe the future is worth building — that curiosity, cooperation, and the expansion of understanding are not just ideals but the most practical path forward for any civilisation.
Star Trek is a universe where the questions matter as much as the answers, and where encountering something utterly alien is cause for wonder rather than fear.
You would belong here because you are fundamentally optimistic about what intelligence and decency can achieve — while being honest about how hard that achievement is.
The Federation is the universe’s most ambitious thought experiment: what if we actually got better?
You don’t just hope that’s possible. You think it’s the only thing worth working toward.
Another DCU Project Almost Featured the Phantom Zone
While the Phantom Zone is mentioned in Lanterns, it was almost referenced in another DCU movie. A deleted scene from Supergirl has Kara Zor-El (Milly Alcock) and Ruthye (Eve Ridley) discussing the fate of Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts). While Ruthye still wants vengeance on Krem for killing her family, Kara says that she’ll make sure he’s sent to the Phantom Zone for life. This mirrors the original ending of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King and Bilquis Elvey, where Krem was sent to the Phantom Zone. King currently serves as a writer and producer on Lanterns, so he may have folded in the reference to the Zone after it didn’t appear in Supergirl.
Lanterns is gaining critical acclaim for balancing the fantastic elements of the Green Lantern comics with a gritty crime thriller, and the reference to the Phantom Zone is a perfect example of that. Now all that’s left is for the Zone to make a proper appearance in the DCU.
New episodes of Lanterns premiere Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.
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