It’s safe to say that Lanterns is burning bright. The DCU series is raking in millions of views globally, competing with other HBO juggernauts like Euphoria and The Pitt.
As shared by Variety, statistics compiled by media research firm Nielsen show that Lanterns’ seventh episode accrued seven million views within the United States during its first three days, combined across HBO’s cable channels and its streaming service, HBO Max.
In the US, Lanterns is reportedly averaging more than 12 million views per episode; that number increases to 19 million when taking global viewership into account. Variety notes that it’s highly likely these numbers will continue to rise, as 1.5 million new viewers reportedly watched Lanterns’ premier episode just last week.
This is good news for fans of the newly-rebooted DCU, but it’s not surprising; Lanterns has been a big hit with audiences and critics alike, though it’s caused no end of debate among hardcore Lanterns fans, given the fate of one of its central characters. (There’s still hope that this particular person might still be around, though, thanks to some convincing theories making the rounds online.)
With these latest stats in mind, Lanterns is rubbing elbows with other uber-popular HBO releases; DC’s previous series on the streamer, The Penguin, averaged 27 million views per episode back in 2024, while shows like Euphoria averaged 25 million per episode by the end of its third and final season. Award-winning medical drama The Pitt averaged 15.4 million views on Season 2, the finale of which garnered 9.7 million views.
Lanterns is gearing up for its season finale, which airs on HBO Max this coming Sunday, October 4. We have a few burning questions that still need to be answered, and its latest episode has fueled oodles of fan theories, not to mention memes (mostly about Mogo and John Stewart).
IGN’s Jesse Schedeen scored its latest episode an eight out of 10, praising it for regaining the series lost momentum from episode seven and reconnecting with the “core Hal/John dynamic we love so much.”
Virginia (she/her) is IGN’s News Editor. With ten years of experience reporting on games and entertainment, she’s got a storied background in the fighting game community, influencer news, and viral online trends. Find her on Twitter at @TheeMissGlaze.
