Casting is so important when it comes to iconic characters, naturally. It can make the difference between “Okay, we’ll see” and “Holy crap I’m so excited.” With the latest casting announcement for Max’s upcoming DC Studios series Lanterns, I’m definitely in the latter category. After already casting Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan, DC announced Aaron Pierre will costar as young Green Lantern John Stewart. Pierre had my personal vote for a while now. This only solidified after his outstanding turn in Jeremy Saulnier’s Netflix thriller Rebel Ridge.
“Aaron Pierre is somebody who I’ve wanted to work together with for a long time,” said James Gunn during an NYCC panel. “People don’t know, but he was almost cast as Adam Warlock. He’s an amazing actor, and I just really admired him from the beginning of his career. Seeing him read with Kyle was one of those miraculous moments. I don’t care what they’re saying, I just love what they’re saying together. When we first started the DCU, the first couple of weeks of heading this out, we got together with a group of writers, and Tom King was one of those writers, and we were in this room, and we came up with sort of this concept for Lanterns. It’s a much more it’s a very grounded series, a very real series, which is a strange thing to say about a Green Lanterns show. But it’s going to be something like nobody’s ever seen before.”
DC Studios co-head James Gunn welcomed Pierre to the family in an Instagram post. “After a long and grueling series of auditions I am absolutely sure we’ve found an incredible John Stewart,” he said in the post. Pierre was reportedly in the final two for the part along with Stephan James, who played Jesse Owens in the biopic Race and Congressman John Lewis in Selma.
Pierre had previously starred as Dev-Em in the Syfy/DC series Krypton and was cast in an undisclosed role in the Blade movie for Marvel before the project changed the character was excised. He’s no longer at all affiliated with that film. Famously, Pierre also played Mid-Sized Sedan in M. Night Shyamalan’s Old.
The Lanterns show is one of the more intriguing of the nascent DCU under Gunn and Peter Safran. A prestige drama akin to a sci-fi True Detective, the series “follows new recruit John Stewart and Lantern legend Hal Jordan, two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.”
Gunn has put his stamp on the role of running DC Studios with the first batch of announcements. I feel like all of them are make-or-break. His high-profile Superman film will set the stage, hopefully redeeming the character in many fans’ eyes who were turned off by the Snydery darkness of the previous universe. Other announcements like Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow and Batman: The Brave and the Bold will trickle off of that one movie.
For me, Lanterns is maybe the second most important. It will bring the DCU onto television in weekly HBO style. The stink of the 2011 Green Lantern movie starring Ryan Reynolds still hasn’t fully worn off the title. This show has a real chance to do that, and Chandler and Pierre are perfect choices in that respect.
I’m stoked, and we’ll report on what’s to come as we learn more!
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.
