‘I am absolutely sure we’ve found an incredible John Stewart’: Welcome to the Lantern Core, Aaron Pierre

John Stewart is an important part of the Green Lantern team. We have not yet seen him in live-action and now we finally found our John for the new HBO series Lanterns. DC has cast Rebel Ridge star Aaron Pierre in the role.

The series previously cast Friday Night Lights actor Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan. Lanterns will reportedly be a True Detective style procedural that features Hal teaching John the ropes of what it means to be a Lantern. According to Deadline, Pierre was one of the top choices for the role and beat out Stephen James in the end to take on John Stewart.

Ozark’s Chris Mundy, Watchmen and Lost‘s Damon Lindelof and Tom King are working on the series. According to Deadline, the series “follows new recruit John Stewart (Pierre) and Lantern legend Jordan (Chandler), two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, Earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.”

James Gunn welcomed Pierre to the universe on X, writing “Welcome to DC, Aaron Pierre. After a long and grueling series of auditions I am absolutely sure we’ve found an incredible John Stewart.”

It is an exciting time for fans of the Green Lantern. We haven’t had the easiest time with the character. Outside of the Ryan Reynolds film, most of the Lanterns and their outings have been animated. Now to see them shine in a detective show is pretty incredible.

At their core, the Lanterns are cops. They are a law enforcement agency in space. So giving them a True Detective spin really has my interest piqued. And this cast is making it so much better!

A perfect fit for the Lanterns

I, like many other millennials, fell in love with Kyle Chandler because of Friday Night Lights. Pierre, who became the recent talk of the town with Rebel Ridge, is a perfect fit for Stewart in that regard. The show is putting Hal in a mentor role and I think this casting really suits the set up well.

We don’t know much else about the show or whether Pierre’s John Stewart will show up in future films or projects. For now, it is just exciting to have the Lanterns get their time in the DC Universe. As Coy Jandreau reminded fans “In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil’s might beware my power… Green Lantern‘s light!”

We’re so excited to see what Pierre does with John Stewart!