Lanterns finds its John Stewart

HBO has officially cast Hal Jordan’s partner in crime solving. “Welcome to DC, Aaron Pierre,” DC Studios co-chairman James Gunn tweeted on Wednesday. “After a long and grueling series of auditions I am absolutely sure we’ve found an incredible John Stewart.” Pierre joins Kyle Chandler as the two leads of the upcoming DC Studios HBO series Lanterns, about (some of) the human members of the Green Lantern Corps responsible for “watching over precinct Earth,” as Gunn once put it. 

Specifically, Lanterns “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,” as per HBO’s press release. It’s also been described (by Gunn) as “True Detective with a couple of Green Lanterns.” There’s no timeline attached to this yet, but the eight-episode series is being co-written by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King. James Hawes is set to direct the first two episodes. Gunn previously said the show may also feature “a few other Lanterns,” but the focus will be on John and Hal. (Nathan Fillion has been cast as another human Lantern, Guy Gardner, in Gunn’s upcoming Superman film.)

As for Pierre, his star has been on the rise after receiving critical acclaim for his role in Jeremy Saulnier’s Rebel Ridge on Netflix. After starring in Barry Jenkins’ The Underground Railroad, the pair re-teamed for Jenkins’ upcoming Lion King spin-off Mufasa (Pierre will voice the titular role). He’s currently filming for the next season of The Morning Show. Last month, it was reported that Pierre was on the shortlist for the John Stewart role along with fellow Jenkins muse, Stephan James. Damson Idris was also in the mix, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. Pierre obviously came out on top and is enjoying support across the industry, like from the real-life Jon Stewart, who tweeted, “Excited to spend time with Aaron Pierre to really help him learn the nuances of playing me…like the 4 to 5 different faces I make on @TheDailyShow.”