Lanterns, an HBO series featuring Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre as John Stewart, the most notable Green Lanterns, is expected to release during the summer of 2026. Filming is scheduled to start oon: February 2025. Even now, it seems Aaron Pierre is still doing his research for his role as John Stewart.
During an interview with Virgin Radio UK's The Chris Evans Breakfast Show, Aaron Pierre commented on preparing physically for the role of a Green Lantern as well as preparing his knowledge of the character. He stated his opinion of the character of John Stewart as follows:
“This character has always radiated class. He's always radiated charisma, strength, identity. So I'm very happy to be bringing him to life in a live action context.”
It sounds like Aaron Pierre has a good understanding of the character he's about to be playing. He then gives us an update on what he's doing to prepare for the role:
“What's happening now is my homework, my extensive DC homework and my intense physical preparation.”
Aaron Pierre is hard at work. A few training videos have dropped of his physical preparation and it does indeed look to be extensive. To add to the “DC homework” comment, he had this to say:
“It's comics, it's film, it's television series. It's all of that. It's sort of familiarizing myself with things that I already know and introducing myself to things I'm learning about.”
It sounds like he's familiarizing himself with the source material massively while also studying past interpretations of John Stewart. This Green Lantern has never appeared in live action before, so, when he says he's studying film for the character, he likely means the animated DC movies John Stewart has shown up in like Green Lantern: Beware My Power. As far as shows go, I imagine he's been watching lots of Justice League Unlimited, a series I grew up on that features John Stewart heavily.
During the interview, Aaron Pierre was asked to comment on recent quotes from Jesse Eisenberg, who famously played a very different version of Lex Luthor, who said he always tries to play the best version of whatever character he's playing. Pierre replied by saying he was not a method actor, but that, while on set, he tries to partially stay in character. He continues to use whatever dialect and accent his character has even when not filming. He also mentioned he continues to try to keep the character's specific gait. All of this is part of his method of partially staying in character while on set.
Lanterns is said to be a detective story similar to HBO’s other excellent hit series True Detective, instead of a cosmic space tale. Hal Jordan and John Stewart will have some sort of mystery to solve and hopefully lots of reasons to use their rings on the way. Details about the plot of the show remain under wraps. However, the internet has been speculating that it will be similar to that of Green Lantern: Earth One after Kyle Chandler was spotted sporting a beard similar to Hal Jordan’s appearance in the comic. The story does use space heavily as its setting, but could certainly be adapted to fit into Earth or, at least, mostly Earth.
Aaron Pierre was cast as John Stewart to star in the HBO series Lanterns on October 9 of 2024. He took to his Instagram to announce the news. Fans seemed, and still seem, to be pleased overall by his casting. Pierre certainly resembles the character, and it seems he has respect for the source material and past interpretations as well.
Aaron Pierre has recently starred in Mufasa, a CGI heavy live action film that tells the story of Mufasa, father of Simba in The Lion King. Aaron Pierre landed the massive role of playing the lion Mufasa himself, a role previously held by James Earl Jones. The movie is sitting at a fifty five percent from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. He also starred in a Netflix original film titled Rebel Ridge in which he plays a former marine who attempts to post his brother’s bail, but winds up in a fight against corruption. The movie has received a ninety six percent on Rotten Tomatoes by critics.
What do you think of Pierre's comments and casting as a whole? Let me know in the comments!