Lanterns’ second episode revealed the show’s biggest threat: a secret Manhunter lurking in Rushville, Nebraska. But did it also sneakily introduce another Green Lantern supervillain?
Episode 2 marks the first appearance of Antaan (Paul Ben-Victor), the leader of the aliens who were killed at the Rushville football game. He and his men kidnap Green Lantern trainee John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) and tell him how the Manhunter currently hiding in Rushville wiped out their people.
The casting announcement for Ben-Victor described Antaan as “an extraterrestrial devoted to exposing the truth and exacting vengeance against those who wronged his people. Consumed by a deep and unrelenting hatred for the law, he is determined to deliver justice on his own terms.”
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On social media, Green Lantern fans were quick to pick up on the fact that that description sounded like another major Green Lantern villain: Atrocitus. Just like with Antaan in Lanterns, Atrocitus, once called Atros, is an alien whose entire sector was destroyed by Manhunters. He and the four other survivors of this calamity devoted themselves to taking down the Guardians of the Universe, who created the Manhunters in an attempt to form a cosmic peacekeeping force. Atrocitus goes on to become the first Red Lantern and leader of the Red Lantern Corps. Unlike the Green Lanterns, whose power rings are fueled by willpower, the Red Lanterns channel anger.
Antaan’s introductory episode neither confirms nor dismisses whether he’s Atrocitus outright. His backstory matches up to Atrocitus, but there are some discrepancies. His name is the most obvious one, and he also has more than four fellow survivors from his world with him. Until he ditches his human disguise and turns into a giant red rage monster, the jury’s still out on the Atrocitus theory.
