Sinestro in Lanterns explained: who is Hal Jordan's villainous former mentor in episode 2 of the Green Lantern TV show on HBO Max?

Lanterns episode 2 is now live on HBO Max — and it introduces viewers to the most famous Green Lantern villain of all, Thaal Sinestro.

<![CDATA[ <article> <p><a href="https://www.techradar.com/streaming/hbo-max/what-is-the-release-date-and-launch-time-for-lanterns-episode-2-on-hbo-max"><em>Lanterns</em> episode 2 is now live on HBO Max</a> — and it introduces viewers to the most famous Green Lantern villain of all, Thaal Sinestro.</p><p>Long-time <a href="https://techradar.com/tag/green-lantern">Green Lantern</a> fans will already know plenty about this recurring antagonist, his relationship to Hal Jordan, and why he's deemed such a threat to the Green Lantern Corps and wider galaxy. However, unless you've read the source material and/or seen the disastrous 2011 Ryan Reynolds-starring <em>Green Lantern </em>movie, many of you won't know much, if anything, about Sinestro.</p><p>So, who is Sinestro? What are his powers? And does his <a href="https://www.techradar.com/tag/dc">DC</a> Comics background give us any hints about his role in <a href="https://www.techradar.com/tag/lanterns"><em>Lanterns</em></a>? Allow me to enlighten you on the aforementioned questions and more.</p><div style="min-height: 250px;"> <div class="kwizly-quiz kwizly-OKBkLW"></div> </div> <script src="https://kwizly.com/embed/OKBkLW.js" async></script><h2 id="sinestro-39-s-dc-comic-book-history-and-powers-explained">Sinestro's DC comic book history and powers explained</h2><figure class="van-image-figure inline-layout" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:1200px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:56.17%;"><img id="jiaSBPevEMBpptxKdsmGJE" name="sinestro" alt="An edited screenshot of Sinestro on the cover of a DC comic book for the Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War storyline" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/jiaSBPevEMBpptxKdsmGJE.jpg" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="1200" height="674" attribution="" endorsement="" class="inline"></p></div></div><figcaption itemprop="caption description" class=" inline-layout"><span class="caption-text">Thaal Sinestro was first introduced in DC Comics over 60 years ago </span><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder">(Image credit: DC Comics)</span></figcaption></figure><p>Let's start with what the comics tell us about Sinestro.</p><p>Created by Gil Kane and John Broome, and first appearing in August 1961 in <em>Green Lantern #7</em>, Thaal Sinestro hails from the planet Korugar in space sector 1417. </p><p>An anthropologist, Sinestro comes into contact with the Green Lantern known as Prohl Gosgotha when the latter crash-lands on Korugar. Prohl does so after coming under attack from a Weaponer of Qward, which hails from the anti-matter universe.</p><p>Prohl gives its ring to Sinestro, who then defeats its pursuer. However, Sinestro keeps the ring, lets Prohl die, and lies to the Guardians of the Universe — aka the immortal race that founded the intergalactic peacekeeping organization known as the Green Lantern Corps — that the ring chose him as Prohl's successor.</p><p>Corrupted by the power of the ring, Sinestro abuses his position as a Green Lantern until Hal Jordan, who becomes Sinestro's student after Jordan acquires his own ring, informs the Guardians of Sinestro's evildoing. </p><figure class="van-image-figure inline-layout" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:1392px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:56.25%;"><img id="pzLw4yc8Cnp5zRrtNFDmdF" name="green-lantern-2011-thaal-sinestro" alt="Mark Strong as Thaal Sinestro in 2011's Green Lantern film" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/pzLw4yc8Cnp5zRrtNFDmdF.jpg" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="1392" height="783" attribution="" endorsement="" class="inline"></p></div></div><figcaption itemprop="caption description" class=" inline-layout"><span class="caption-text">Mark Strong played the first-ever live-action version of Sinestro in 2011's terrible Green Lantern movie </span><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder">(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)</span></figcaption></figure><p>To punish him, the Guardians expelled Sinestro from the Green Lantern Corps, took his ring, and sent him to the anti-matter universe — more specifically, the anti-matter world Qward. There, Sinestro convinces the Weaponers, who hate the Green Lanterns, that he can use his knowledge of the space cop agency and its creators to destroy them for good, which leads the Weaponers to give Sinestro his infamous, fear-inducing yellow ring. Thus begins his never-ending quest to eradicate the Guardians and Green Lantern Corps.</p><p>As one of the Green Lanterns' most powerful nemeses, it'll come as no surprise to learn that Sinestro has myriad superhuman abilities.</p><p>Prior to being gifted his yellow ring, he already possessed genius-level intellect and was a skilled hand-to-hand combatant and expert tactician. After being armed with said ring, he gained powers similar to those of his Green Lantern foes. They include — but aren't limited to — the ability to create constructs using the wielder's mastery of fear, the ability to fly, enhanced physical abilities, limited cellular regeneration, and the power to instil fear in opponents.</p><p>Not content with being the only Yellow Lantern in existence, Sinestro went on to establish the Sinestro Corps. Also known as the Yellow Lantern Corps, this group, created by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver, was introduced in <em>Green Lantern vol. 4 #10</em> in May 2006 as a sinister counterpoint to the Green Lanterns.</p><h2 id="who-plays-sinestro-in-lanterns-on-hbo-max">Who plays Sinestro in Lanterns on HBO Max?</h2><div class="instagram-embed"><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-version="6" style="width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DcKgWuWiC0F/" target="_blank">A post shared by Ulrich Thomsen (@ulrichthomsen)</a></p><p>A photo posted by on </p></blockquote></div><p>As for who portrays Sinestro in the DC Universe (<a href="https://www.techradar.com/tag/dcu">DCU</a>) TV show on <a href="https://www.techradar.com/streaming/hbo-max">HBO Max</a>, that'll be Ulrich Thomsen.</p><p>The Danish actor is more widely known in his homeland than in nations like the US and UK. However, Thomsen has starred in English-language movies and TV shows you might be familiar with. </p><p>On the film front, he's appeared in the 2007 big-screen adaptation of the beloved I/O Interactive game franchise <em>Hitman</em>, Ridley Scott's 2005 historical epic <em>Kingdom of Heaven</em>, and 1999 James Bond flick <em>The World is Not Enough</em>, among others.</p><p>Meanwhile, on the small screen, Thomsen was a series regular in Cinemax's <em>Banshee</em> and had recurring roles in NBC's <em>The Blacklist</em> and HBO Original <em>The New Pope</em>.</p><div data-widget-type="review" data-model-name="Max" class="hawk-root"></div><h2 id="what-role-will-sinestro-play-in-lanterns-39-overarching-story">What role will Sinestro play in Lanterns' overarching story?</h2><figure class="van-image-figure inline-layout" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:1600px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:56.25%;"><img id="DYVrGhrzdyQWmHANQWh2jm" name="lanterns-episode-2-hal-jordan-green-lantern" alt="Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan wearing his Green Lantern suit in Lanterns episode 2" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/DYVrGhrzdyQWmHANQWh2jm.jpg" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="1600" height="900" attribution="" endorsement="" class="inline"></p></div></div><figcaption itemprop="caption description" class=" inline-layout"><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder">(Image credit: HBO Max)</span></figcaption></figure><p>To try to answer that, let's first take a step back and look at why Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan visits his imprisoned former mentor in the <a href="https://www.techradar.com/streaming/entertainment/dcu-chapter-one">DCU Chapter One</a> TV show's latest chapter.</p><p>After John Stewart learns about the Manhunters in <em>Lanterns</em> episode 2, he tells Jordan what he knows before retiring to his motel room for the night. Armed with Stewart's information, Jordan puts on his Green Lantern suit and flies to the maximum-security prison where Sinestro has been kept since he was taken down by Jordan. Remember, as we learned earlier in the episode, Jordan battled and defeated Sinestro after the latter attempted a coup, went rogue after that plan failed, and killed one of the Guardians.</p><p>Anyway, upon arriving at Sinestro's cell in the extraterrestrial penitentiary, Jordan asks his former mentor what he knows about the Manhunters. After some unsurprisingly strained small talk, Jordan steers the conversation back to the topic at hand. Sinestro tells Jordan that, if there's really a Manhunter living in secret on Earth, he and Stewart are facing one of the second-most dangerous beings in the entire galaxy. Before we get more of a crash course in the Manhunters, though, Sinestro asks Jordan to tell him about Jordan's own pupil, Stewart, before the screen cuts to black.</p><p>Of course, none of this gives us any indication as to Sinestro's wider role in the plot. Is he somehow secretly orchestrating events in Rushville, Nebraska from his jail cell? Does he actually know anything about Manhunters, or is he simply suggesting he does to delay Jordan's return to Earth? And how many more times will we see him in <em>Lanterns</em> before this season's final end credits roll?</p><p>Even though I've seen seven of this season's eight episodes — I mentioned that in my <a href="https://www.techradar.com/streaming/hbo-max/lanterns-review"><em>Lanterns </em>review</a> — I'm not allowed to spoil, nor would I want to, how Sinestro factors into the wider plot. I know that's a non-committal answer to this section header's question, but it's the best one I can give without getting into trouble with Warner Bros, HBO, and DC Studios. You'll have to keep tuning into HBO Max, aka one of the <a href="https://www.techradar.com/uk/best/best-tv-streaming-service-cord-cutting-compare">best streaming services</a>, every week until <em>Lanterns</em> tells all.</p> </article> ]]>