‘Lanterns’ Stunt Coordinator Justin Riemer Breaks Down Episode 2’s Highway Chase

Screenshot from Lanterns section 2. Aaron Pierre arsenic John Stewart.

HBO Max

Lanterns section 2, “Trust Fall,” sees John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) effort to flight alien captors connected the road while maintaining custody of Hal’s (Kyle Chandler) lantern and trying to support his conjured vertebrate alive.

The move sequence, which features a adjacent quarters conflict successful the backmost of a moving van and a pursuit into oncoming traffic, is the HBO Max original’s first precocious stakes action segment and it was choreographed by stunt coordinator and 2nd portion head Justin Riemer.

I caught up pinch Riemer to delve into the situation of orchestrating the standout infinitesimal astir a vertebrate and giving the assemblage our first existent look astatine who John is arsenic a fighter.

Justin Riemer On The Bird In ‘Lanterns’ Episode 2 Highway Fight

Riemer shared that conceptually Lanterns creators Chris Mundy and Damon Lindelof “had a beautiful clear thought of wherever we started and wherever we needed to extremity successful the sequence,” his occupation was to fig retired really the segment gets there.

He described incorporating John’s vertebrate arsenic a “unique challenge” which led to a batch of discussions astir really to convincingly propulsion it off. For a series arsenic propulsive arsenic section 2’s road chase, it’s not arsenic elemental arsenic knowing a vertebrate is present. They had to see “how large it would be, really it would move, [and] really it would respond to John and the environment.”

That past constituent encompassed not only the van wherever the vertebrate starts disconnected cradled successful the hands of 1 of John’s captors but besides extracurricular arsenic it flies past and done cars caught successful the wreckage piling up arsenic John tries to flight and pursuit it down.

Riemer said, “The extremity was to make the relationship consciousness arsenic seamless and earthy arsenic possible.” But, of course, choreographing the segment meant taking into relationship a surviving animal that’s not physically there.

“The physicality of the conflict and the series stays the same,” he explained. “But you’re perpetually reasoning up for erstwhile the vertebrate really becomes portion of the scene.” The reply for Lanterns was immediately.

As soon arsenic John wakes up successful a moving van pinch his hands zip-tied, he locates his vertebrate and past uses it to his advantage. The vertebrate serves arsenic a distraction, first for the man watching John and past for the driver arsenic John fights to free his hands and return down his captor.

It’s the first clip viewers spot John quadrate disconnected pinch personification and the squad wanted the assemblage “to understand from the opening that John is highly capable.” The choreography drew from 3 facts astir him—he’s “an ex-Marine, and a boxer, he’s personification who has trained for this his full life.”

For John, it’s not a mobility of if he’s capable to grip the situation. It’s how. That’s why he’s showcased arsenic being “incredibly powerful, but astatine the aforesaid time, very method and controlled successful the measurement he fights.”

However, this is besides a two-person dance. The man John fights factors into the choreography’s storytelling arsenic well. Riemer said, “With the captor, hopefully the assemblage picks up that there’s thing conscionable a small different astir him and his capabilities,” moreover pinch the subtle choices that were made.

This is successful reference to the building suspicion during the conflict that John’s captors aren’t human. It starts pinch the gentle measurement the man successful the backmost of the van holds his vertebrate and continues done the adjacent quarters conflict into the pursuit down the road arsenic the man hops from car to car.

The uncover that the beings who captured John are aliens doesn’t hap until aft the road chase, but the action series sets it up well.

Bearing the vertebrate successful mind besides helped the Lanterns squad fig retired the logistics of getting John retired of the van and onto the road without sacrificing momentum. Riemer said they treated the conflict successful the van and the pursuit connected the road arsenic 2 abstracted scenes and the vertebrate was the connective insubstantial betwixt them.

He shared, “Inside the van, It’s astir John versus the captor. It’s close, physical, and contained. Once we deed the highway, the move shifts to John and the bird. The nonsubjective remains the same, John has to drawback the bird.”

John’s doing this while keeping up pinch Hal’s lantern and trying to put region betwixt him and his captor. But the roadworthy isn’t empty, it’s not that simple. The road presents its ain challenges arsenic it’s wide delight and postulation is not precisely light. Riemer described this caller constituent arsenic a alteration of obstacles.

He said, “The cars and postulation fundamentally switch the captor, creating caller obstacles and danger,” which becomes portion of the choreography that John has to navigate to scope his objective.

“Even though the captor is still there,” Riemer continued. “He almost becomes secondary to John’s pursuit of the bird.”

As the audience, we spot that clearest erstwhile John dives complete a car to drawback his vertebrate and is truthful preoccupied pinch having protected it—while taking statement of his captor still chasing him—that he neglects to relationship for the cars still heading toward him. The segment ends pinch John knocked retired by a van that swerves successful bid to not deed him dormant on.

Riemer couldn’t tease overmuch astir what viewers tin expect to spot regarding John’s conflict sequences arsenic we move further into the season. However, he did say, “John is highly tin pinch aliases without the ring,” emphasizing that the DC icon is adept astatine utilizing what he has connected manus to protect himself whether that beryllium his ain assemblage aliases what he’s willed into being.

Lanterns streams Sundays astatine 9 p.m. ET connected HBO Max. Follow Sabrina Reed connected Forbes for play sum of the bid and news astir the business of TV. For deeper thoughts connected the TV she’s watching, chat pinch Sabrina connected X and Substack.