James Gunn Once Described LANTERNS Writer Damon Lindelof As “A Total Scam Artist With No Integrity”

If there’s one thing we’ve learned in this social media age, it’s that some people have a very good memory (meaning a once innocent comment can come back to haunt even the best of us). 

Earlier today, it was confirmed that Max’s Lanterns has tapped Chris Mundy, Tom King, and Damon Lindelof to pen the pilot and a “bible” for the long-awaited TV series. Now, James Gunn’s one-time thoughts on the latter have been revealed in a resurfaced Facebook comment. 

Way back on March 18, 2012, the DC Studios co-CEO and Superman director said, “Lindelof is close to Satan in my book because of the end of Lost. He’s the Uri Gellar of storytellers, a total scam artist with no integrity whatsoever. And a liar.”

Something must have changed since then as it was only a few hours ago that Gunn took to Instagram and Threads to proclaim “A hearty welcome to Chris and [Damon Lindelof] as they join the DC Studios family.”

We honestly wouldn’t put too much stock in this scathing assessment from the filmmaker. Why? Like many fans, it appears he was simply disappointed and angry about a finale which massively split opinions when it first aired in 2010.

It’s hard to ignore the fact that Gunn has described Lanterns‘ most prolific writer as a “scam artist” and “liar” with “no integrity.” However, the Guardians of the Galaxy helmer has always been vocal on social media. It was also around this time when Gunn hadn’t fully hit the mainstream and frequently shared a lot of honest – and brutal – thoughts on his future contemporaries. 

Lindelof likely isn’t losing any sleep over Gunn’s take on the Lost finale (a thick skin is a must for any creative involved in the divisive final season) and this is all water under the bridge. Still, Gunn changing his mind on the filmmaker’s work at some point over the past 12 years is no doubt what led to him bringing Lindelof on board for Lanterns.

“This is a story of a couple of Green Lanterns John Stewart and Hal Jordan,” Gunn said of Lanterns after it was first announced. “We have a few other Lanterns peppered in there but this is really a terrestrial based TV show which is almost like True Detective with a couple of Green Lanterns who are space cops watching over Precinct Earth in it they discover a terrifying mystery that ties into our largest story of the DCU.”

You can see a screenshot of Gunn’s Facebook comment in the X post below.