Who is Ch'p, the squirrel Green Lantern?

An obscure DC comic character name‑checked in the Lanterns trailer

The brief mention of a squirrel Green Lantern in the new Lanterns trailer points directly to a long‑standing, off‑beat corner of DC Comics. In the comics canon, the Green Lantern mythos has included nonhuman lanterns and unusual ring bearers; the squirrel figure is one of those deep cuts that fans remember as a playful oddity rather than a mainstream hero.

Why the passing reference matters:

• It signals scope. Dropping a name like that suggests the series plans to draw on the broader, stranger corners of Lantern lore rather than limit itself to the most familiar beats.
• It establishes tone. The trailer leans into a noir/True Detective style while still acknowledging the comic book multiverse’s weirdness; a squirrel Green Lantern is a hint that the show mixes grounded police drama with comic-book eccentricity.
• It rewards readers. Longtime fans get a payoff from seeing obscure characters acknowledged, which can build goodwill and online conversation ahead of release.

Lanterns is being positioned as a genre mash-up: a police/procedural aesthetic anchored by established characters like Hal Jordan (played by Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) and produced within the new DC television slate. It’s still unclear whether the squirrel lantern will appear on-screen or remain an in-joke in dialogue, but the name‑check alone tells viewers that the series will embrace both the franchise’s mythic weight and its stranger, comic-book edges.