‘Lanterns’ Finds Its John Stewart with Aaron Pierre

Aaron Pierre, the star of Netflix’s Rebel Ridge , has nabbed the plum part of Green Lantern John Stewart in DC Studios’ and HBO’s much-ballyhooed series Lanterns .

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The casting caps one of the more scrutinized actor searches in some time. Not only is the show the first major TV endeavor from DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter Safran, but the role of Stewart carries much significance, as the fan-favorite comic book character was one of DC’s first Black superheroes.

The intense casting process came down to Pierre and Stephan James, who is on the festival circuit with drama The Piano Lesson and who starred in the 2016 Jesse Owens biopic Race . Both participated in screen tests, with the actors squaring off against the already cast Kyle Chandler on Thursday and Friday. Each actor had their boosters, but the final decision was made Tuesday.

Pierre definitely brings heat to the show, as the actor has over the course of a few months gone to the top of casting lists. His leading turn in Jeremy Saulnier’s Rebel Ridge debuted on Netflix on Sept. 6 and was the number one title worldwide on Netflix for three weeks in a row.

The actor already has had a brush with the comic book realm. He once was cast opposite Mahershala Ali in Marvel Studios’ Blade , but the version of the long-delayed movie morphed, and he will not be involved going forward. He also appeared in M. Night Shyamalan’s Old , an adaptation of a graphic novel.

Lanterns is said to have a gritty, True Detective vibe and follows Hal Jordan, a legend amongst the space police force known as the Green Lanterns, as he reluctantly mentors Stewart, a younger Green Lantern. The two intergalactic cops get drawn into a dark, Earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.

Chandler, a TV veteran thanks to acclaimed turns in Friday Night Lights and Bloodline , is set to star as Jordan.

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James Hawes, an established TV helmer who most recently directed a string of episodes of the Gary Oldman spy series Slow Horses , has been tapped to helm the first two episodes of the sci-fi cop series.

Lanterns has a straight-to-series order at HBO and comes from high-pedigreed creators. Chris Mundy ( Ozark ), Damon Lindelof ( Watchmen , Lost ) and Eisner Award-winning comic book writer Tom King are executive producing and writing, with Mundy showrunning what is planned as an eight-episode season. Hawes also joins the force as an exec producer.

Writer Dennis O’Neil and artist Neal Adams introduced Stewart in 1971’s Green Lantern No. 87, 12 years after Hal Jordan and the larger Green Lantern Corps mythos arrived on the scene.

Pierre was recently seen leading the NatGeo series Genius: MLK/X , portraying civil rights leader Malcolm X, Garth Davis’ 2023 sci-fi drama Foe alongside Paul Mescal and Saoirse Ronan, Clement Virgo’s Brother and Barry Jenkins’ award-winning limited series The Underground Railroad . In December, Pierre takes on the titular role of Mufasa in Barry Jenkins’ CG-animated Lion King prequel for Disney.

Pierre is repped by WME, Anonymous Content, Hamilton Hodell, and Sloane Offer.

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