“Lanterns” expands its connection to the wider DC Universe beyond Nathan Fillion’s appearance as Guy Gardner. The episode reveals that the Phantom Zone exists in this universe, suggesting a significant link to Superman’s mythology and potentially introducing a prison for powerful future villains.

Gardner reluctantly retrieves Hal Jordan’s Green Lantern ring and warns that the Guardians of the Universe could send him “on the first beam to the Phantom Zone”. In Superman lore, the Zone is a timeless alternate dimension created by Jor-El to imprison Krypton’s most dangerous criminals, including General Zod, Jax-Ur and potentially Doomsday, making it a possible setting for future DCU stories.