10 Must-Watch Shows for Fans of HBO’s Lanterns
Finding a follow-up to HBO’s Lanterns can be oddly specific: you want a proper mystery, a pair of investigators worth spending time with, and a story that is willing to let cosmic ideas cast long shadows over ordinary lives. This list gives you ten shows that scratch at different parts of that itch, from grounded crime drama to space opera, paranoid science fiction and superhero stories with a bruised edge.
Lanterns follows Hal Jordan and John Stewart as two Green Lanterns investigating a murder in the American heartland. Its premise is unusual in the best way: intergalactic police work collides with a recognisable rural landscape, and a case that begins on Earth carries implications beyond it. That mix of procedural storytelling, character friction and larger mythology gives the series several doors into the story. Maybe you came for the Green Lantern mythology; maybe the odd-couple detective setup won you over; perhaps you simply enjoy a mystery that keeps widening as the evidence arrives.
The shows below are ranked for the qualities that make Lanterns distinctive. Some are close cousins in tone, while others match its scale, its interest in flawed people, or its fascination with institutions that know more than they admit. The countdown moves from a thoughtful parallel to the strongest all-round recommendation, with your supplied No. 1 choice kept at the top. You will find space mysteries, strange cases, moral compromises and a few episodes that make “one more before bed” an obviously unwise promise.
This is a guide to what to watch after Lanterns if you want another detective series, a smart science-fiction show, a mystery with superhero stakes, or a genuinely binge-worthy drama. Availability differs by country and changes as streaming rights move. The watch notes therefore point you toward the service or official catalogue most closely associated with each title; check the linked service in your region before subscribing or renting.
If you want more genre ideas after this list, browse That Love Podcast’s 20 Best TV Shows of 2026 So Far, Ranked and Marvel vs. DC: The Best Superhero TV Shows Ranked and Compared. For the latest official Lanterns details, see Warner Bros. Discovery’s series page. Ready for a new case? Let’s get into it 👇
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10. Counterpart (2017–2019)
Counterpart is a quiet, intelligent choice if the part of Lanterns you like most is the way a case can expose the person investigating it. J.K. Simmons plays Howard Silk, a mild-mannered Berlin bureaucrat who discovers that his workplace guards a crossing to a parallel world. The other side has developed differently, and Howard’s counterpart is a more hardened, suspicious version of the same man. Their first contact turns a spy thriller into a careful study of identity, regret and how small decisions gather weight over time.
The show is not a conventional police procedural, but it understands investigation as a process of learning which version of a story to trust. Its cold-war atmosphere makes the speculative premise feel tactile: paperwork, surveillance and guarded conversations matter as much as the science-fiction idea. Simmons gives the two Howards recognisably different rhythms without turning either into a cartoon. The supporting characters also have their own loyalties, so each reveal changes the emotional map rather than simply adding a twist.
Counterpart sits at ten because its pace is deliberate and its espionage language asks you to pay attention. If you want a cerebral mystery series with a strong central performance, that patience pays off. It is a good pick for viewers who like parallel worlds, political intrigue and stories about how people become strangers to themselves. Where to watch: check the current UK catalogue or rental options through your preferred streaming search; availability varies.
9. The Leftovers (2014–2017)
The Leftovers begins with a mystery that has no tidy answer: three years after two per cent of the world’s population vanish without explanation, the people left behind try to continue with lives that no longer make sense. Justin Theroux’s Kevin Garvey, a police chief in a small New York town, is both a lawman and a man whose private life is fraying. Carrie Coon’s Nora Durst carries a different kind of grief, while the Guilty Remnant makes public mourning impossible to ignore.
This is not a puzzle-box series that rewards you with a neat solution at the end. It uses the absence of an answer to ask what people do when certainty is gone. That makes it an unexpectedly close tonal companion to Lanterns: both stories put extraordinary events against everyday streets, and both understand that a case or catastrophe matters because of how it changes relationships. The performances are raw without becoming mannered, and the score gives even quiet scenes an uneasy pulse.
The Leftovers ranks ninth because it is emotionally demanding and deliberately uninterested in explaining everything. That is precisely why it stays with you. Choose it when you want a prestige drama about faith, family, grief and community after the impossible has happened. It is not a light binge, but it is one of television’s most distinctive speculative dramas. Where to watch: check current UK streaming listings; HBO catalogue availability depends on your region and subscription.
8. Silo (2023– )
Silo takes a locked-room premise and turns it into an absorbing science-fiction detective story. Rebecca Ferguson plays Juliette Nichols, an engineer living in a vast underground community whose residents believe the toxic outside world is uninhabitable. When people close to her die under suspicious circumstances, Juliette starts asking questions the silo’s authorities would rather leave buried. The setting is immediately legible: every corridor has a purpose, every rule has a history, and every secret threatens a fragile social order.
The series works because Juliette investigates with the practical habits of an engineer. She tests, observes and follows details other characters have learned to ignore. Ferguson gives her a watchful intensity that feels earned, while the ensemble makes the silo more than a clever production design. The mystery expands gradually, balancing political control and personal loss with the tactile pleasure of watching evidence connect. Its production design makes a closed environment feel enormous, even when the characters cannot see the sky.
Silo comes in eighth because its conspiracy is more central than a two-partner detective dynamic, but it is an excellent choice if you want an enclosed-world mystery after Lanterns. It also suits viewers who enjoy dystopian television, slow-burn suspense and a strong lead pushing against a system built to discourage curiosity. Where to watch: Apple TV in supported regions; see Apple TV’s official Silo page for the UK catalogue.
7. Legion (2017–2019)
Legion is the recommendation for viewers who want superhero television to feel like a strange dream they cannot quite explain. Dan Stevens stars as David Haller, a young man diagnosed with schizophrenia who discovers that some of the voices and visions he experiences may be connected to extraordinary abilities. The show treats that premise with deliberate uncertainty. David’s perception is the story’s most beautiful tool and its least reliable guide, so scenes can shift from romance to dread without announcing the change.
The visual style is bold: shifting aspect ratios, period textures, dance numbers and surreal images are not decoration but ways of putting the audience inside unstable points of view. Stevens makes David charming and alarming, often in the same scene. Rachel Keller, Aubrey Plaza and Jean Smart give the surrounding characters enough specificity to keep the surrealism emotionally grounded. When the show explores power, it asks whether having the ability to reshape reality also makes someone trustworthy.
Legion ranks seventh because it is less procedural than Lanterns and far more experimental than a straightforward superhero thriller. But its collision of mystery, comic-book lore and character study makes it a standout for anyone who likes stories that bend genre rules. Pick it if you want inventive superhero drama, psychological science fiction and images you will still be trying to interpret after the credits. Where to watch: streaming availability moves between services; check the current UK listing before starting.
6. Foundation (2021– )
Foundation is a grander, more distant match for Lanterns, but it has the same appetite for stories where local investigations connect to civilisation-wide consequences. Based on Isaac Asimov’s work, the series follows mathematician Hari Seldon’s prediction that the Galactic Empire will fall and the people who try to preserve knowledge through the coming dark age. Jared Harris brings persuasive calm to Hari, while Lee Pace gives Brother Day the polished menace of a ruler who believes history belongs to him.
The series jumps across worlds and generations, so it rewards viewers who enjoy political science fiction, competing points of view and mysteries that unfold on a long timeline. Its best scenes find a human heartbeat in the enormous ideas: a decision to trust someone, a relationship shaped by power, or a secret that changes what a character believes about the Empire. The design gives the galaxy scale without making every planet feel interchangeable. It is also willing to let its characters disagree about whether prediction is guidance or a cage.
Foundation sits sixth because it is primarily an epic rather than a detective show. Still, if the Green Lantern mythos and the cosmic consequences around Lanterns are what interest you, this is one of the strongest space-opera series to binge. Choose it for ambitious world-building, political intrigue and a thoughtful question at the centre: can people change a future that seems mathematically certain? Where to watch: stream on Apple TV in supported territories; Apple’s Foundation page lists the series.
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5. Dark Matter (2024– )
Apple TV’s Dark Matter turns an ordinary family life into a multiverse mystery with a clear emotional anchor. Joel Edgerton plays Jason Dessen, a physicist and professor who is pulled into a version of reality where his life took a dramatically different path. Jennifer Connelly plays Daniela, the person whose relationship with Jason gives the science-fiction premise its emotional stakes. As Jason tries to get home, each possible world asks what he values and what he is willing to risk.
The show is built for viewers who enjoy parallel-universe stories, but it does not treat alternate realities as a novelty parade. The variations matter because they put characters face to face with choices and consequences. Edgerton makes Jason’s fear and determination believable, and Connelly gives Daniela a real perspective of her own rather than reducing her to a goal in someone else’s quest. The tension comes from uncertainty about which version of a familiar life is safe, and the visual storytelling keeps a complicated premise readable.
Dark Matter ranks fifth because its focus is more intimate than Lanterns’ investigative partnership, but it is one of the best science-fiction thrillers for an immediate binge. If you want a mystery about identity, family, science and the roads not taken, it is an easy recommendation. Where to watch: Apple TV; check the official series page for availability in your region.
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4. The X-Files (1993–2018)
The X-Files is the classic answer when someone asks for a sci-fi detective show. FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully investigate cases that sit on the boundary between the explainable and the uncanny. Mulder is eager to believe; Scully is trained to demand evidence. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson make that contrast playful, intimate and intellectually engaging, with the series’ best episodes allowing each agent to change the other’s mind.
The show’s “monster of the week” stories make it easy to sample, while the larger mythology supplies a long-running conspiracy for viewers who want a continuous mystery. Its tone can move from eerie to funny without losing the connection between the leads. What really lasts is not any single alien theory but the procedural rhythm: two people enter a case with different assumptions, compare what they find and decide what evidence can support. Lanterns fans will recognise that pleasure in pairing cosmic questions with ordinary investigative work.
The X-Files earns fourth place because it is foundational and still enormously watchable, though its long run has uneven patches. Start with a favourite standalone episode if you are unsure, then follow the mythology arc if it clicks. This is the pick for paranormal investigations, conspiracies, memorable character chemistry and the blueprint for many modern mystery shows. Where to watch: the UK streaming home can change; check the current catalogue or buy/rent option before committing to a full-series rewatch.
3. The Expanse (2015–2022)
The Expanse begins with a missing-person investigation and grows into one of the most convincing space-operas on television. Detective Joe Miller, played by Thomas Jane, is asked to find Julie Mao, while the crew of the ice hauler Canterbury—led by James Holden (Steven Strait)—stumbles into a political crisis that threatens the fragile balance between Earth, Mars and the Belt. Their storylines gradually converge, bringing a personal case into contact with system-wide conflict.
The series makes its world feel lived in through small details: different gravity changes how people move, political identity shapes speech, and access to water or air carries real consequences. It is a rich source of space mystery, detective drama and political science fiction, but its scale never completely swallows its characters. Miller’s weary instincts and Holden’s sometimes frustrating idealism create a compelling contrast. The show trusts the viewer to track a complicated story, then rewards attention with relationships that change under pressure.
The Expanse takes third because it is the strongest choice if you want Lanterns’ cosmic stakes expanded into a complete, deeply imagined universe. The early mystery is a great entry point, and the later seasons deliver the scale promised by the premise. Pick it for realistic space travel, sharp world-building and binge-worthy ensemble drama. Where to watch: Prime Video has been a major home for the series; verify current UK availability through Prime Video before subscribing.
2. Watchmen (2019)
HBO’s Watchmen is the closest tonal relative on this list: a superhero story that begins with a murder investigation and uses that case to examine power, history and the stories a society tells about itself. Regina King stars as Angela Abar, a Tulsa police officer who works in a world shaped by the legacy of costumed vigilantes and a racist massacre in 1921. When a colleague is attacked, Angela follows a chain of secrets that brings her family and the city’s past into the case.
The series is a sequel to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ graphic novel, but it is not a checklist of comic references. It treats the source material as a foundation for a story with its own questions and emotional centre. King’s performance is formidable, and the supporting cast—including Jeremy Irons, Jean Smart and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II—help the show balance mystery, satire and speculative ideas. Its structure rewards attention: seemingly separate threads become connected by history, identity and the cost of inherited power.
Watchmen ranks second because it most closely matches Lanterns’ blend of detectives, superheroes and a grounded mystery with cosmic implications. It is more formally ambitious and politically pointed, but it gives viewers the same satisfaction of watching a case reveal a much larger design. Choose it if you want one of the best superhero dramas, a smart HBO mystery and a series that stays in your head afterwards. Where to watch: HBO catalogue availability depends on your country; UK viewers should check NOW’s current HBO selection.
1. True Detective (2014– )
True Detective is the strongest overall recommendation for Lanterns fans because it understands that an investigation is also a portrait of the people forced to carry it. Each season builds a different crime story, setting and partnership. The first season follows Louisiana State Police detectives Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) and Marty Hart (Woody Harrelson) as they revisit a disturbing murder case over many years. Later seasons and Night Country offer new characters and cases, so you can choose a self-contained mystery rather than committing to one continuous plot.
The series’ best work comes from atmosphere and performance. Louisiana’s humid landscapes, the long stretches of silence between questions, and the strained friendship between Rust and Marty create an investigative drama that feels haunted without requiring a supernatural explanation. Its leads are allowed to be difficult, funny, selfish and wounded, which makes their partnership more compelling than a clean buddy-cop formula. The case matters, but the emotional cost of the work becomes the series’ real through-line.
True Detective takes the top spot because it best captures the human side of Lanterns’ detective premise while delivering a distinctive mystery. It is the best show to watch after Lanterns if you want a grounded crime series with striking performances and an unnerving sense of place. Start with season one for the most celebrated pairing, then follow whichever later setting appeals to you. 🎧 Before we reveal our No. 1 pick, you can also discover original romantic audio dramas from That Love Podcast. Listen here.
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Conclusion
These recommendations show why Lanterns has room to appeal beyond the usual superhero audience. The strongest connections are not just capes or outer space; they are investigations that test the people conducting them. The X-Files and True Detective make the detective partnership central, Watchmen and Legion push superhero stories into darker territory, and The Expanse, Foundation and Dark Matter build science fiction around choices that affect whole worlds.
For the closest tonal match, start with Watchmen. For an expansive space mystery, choose The Expanse. If you want a standalone case with an unforgettable atmosphere, begin True Detective season one. That is my No. 1 because it keeps the clues, characters and setting in balance without requiring a universe guide beside the sofa.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What should I watch after Lanterns?
Start with Watchmen if you want another superhero mystery or True Detective if the investigation and character tension are what hooked you. The X-Files is a natural choice for a classic sci-fi detective partnership, while The Expanse brings a missing-person case into a wide political space opera. The right follow-up depends on which part of Lanterns you most want to revisit.
What is the best show like Lanterns?
Watchmen is the closest overall tonal companion because it combines a murder investigation, superhero history and larger questions about power. True Detective is the strongest crime-drama alternative, particularly if you want flawed detectives and a case that shapes their lives. Both work as self-contained viewing choices, though their tones and subject matter are very different.
Which sci-fi detective shows should I watch?
The X-Files is the classic procedural, Counterpart adds parallel-world espionage, and Dark Matter turns alternate realities into a personal thriller. The Expanse begins with a detective case before expanding into space politics. Each series balances investigation and science fiction differently, so you can pick one based on whether you prefer standalone cases or long-form mysteries.
Is Watchmen a good show to watch after Lanterns?
Yes. HBO’s Watchmen is a strong next watch if Lanterns’ superhero mythology and murder investigation appealed to you. The series follows Angela Abar through a case connected to her city’s history and the legacy of masked heroes. It is thoughtful, intense and more politically direct than a conventional comic-book adventure.
Which show is best for space mystery fans?
The Expanse is the best all-round pick for a space mystery because it starts with a disappearance and grows into a detailed political conflict across the Solar System. Foundation is better if you want a sweeping, multi-generation space opera. Dark Matter suits viewers who prefer a more intimate story about family and alternate realities.
Is True Detective supernatural?
True Detective is primarily a crime anthology, not a supernatural series. Its first season uses unsettling imagery and philosophical dialogue to create a feeling of cosmic dread, but the story remains grounded in human investigation. Later seasons tell separate cases with different settings and tones, so each season can be approached on its own.
Is The X-Files still worth watching?
Yes. The original series remains compelling because Mulder and Scully’s dynamic is strong, and many standalone episodes work as compact mysteries. Its larger conspiracy plot is uneven across such a long run, but the show’s influence on science-fiction television is clear. New viewers can sample a standalone episode before deciding whether to follow the mythology.
What is the best superhero mystery show?
Watchmen is the strongest choice here for viewers who want a superhero story built around a serious investigation. Legion is more surreal and psychological, while Daredevil and Jessica Jones focus on street-level crime and personal trauma. The best pick depends on whether you want political scope, dreamlike storytelling or grounded detective work.
Where can I stream these shows in the UK?
Streaming catalogues change, and a series may move between subscription, rental and purchase services. Check the current listings in your region before subscribing. Apple TV hosts Apple originals such as Silo, Foundation and Dark Matter; other titles may be available through NOW, Prime Video or digital rental depending on rights.
What should I watch after The Expanse?
If you want more ambitious science fiction, try Foundation. If the detective element drew you in, True Detective or The X-Files offers a very different kind of casework. For the combination of cosmic scale and morally complicated characters, Watchmen is a sharp follow-up, while Dark Matter offers a faster multiverse thriller.
External resource
For current UK streaming listings, check the NOW TV HBO collection and each service’s official catalogue before watching.
More Places to Find Great Movies and TV Shows
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ScreenRant – News, reviews and features on movies, TV and entertainment trends.
CBR – Comic, movie and TV news for pop-culture fans.
Collider – Film and television news, trailers, interviews and reviews.
IMDb – Cast, credits, episode guides and audience information.
Rotten Tomatoes – Critic and audience review aggregation.
MovieWeb – Entertainment news, trailers and reviews.
Slash Film – Film and television news and analysis.
ComicBook.com – Coverage of comics and adaptations.
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