Aaron Pierre will soon play the live-action version of DC hero John Stewart in HBO’s upcoming Max series Lanterns. He recently stated that he has never seen the most famous (or infamous, perhaps) live-action adaptation of the Green Lantern comics—the 2011 Ryan Reynolds film—but has had a much, much better page-to-screen introduction to the character: the Justice League cartoons from the 2000s.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly ahead of his next big-screen project—he voices the title character in the upcoming Lion King prequel Mufasa—Pierre said, “I haven’t seen that” when asked about the 2011 film, a critical flop that found later purpose thanks to Reynolds’ good-natured use of it as Deadpool-related joke fodder. However, he told EW he intends to watch it while working on his Lanterns preparations.
However, he’s already well-versed in another version of the Green Lantern universe. “Justice League Unlimited might have been one of my first introductions to John Stewart,” he told me. The Cartoon Network series Justice League aired from 2001 to 2004. It included veteran voice actor Kevin Conroy reprising his classic Batman: The Animated Series version of Batman, as well as Phil LaMarr, another voice-acting legend (Futurama, Samurai Jack), as John Stewart. Conroy and LaMarr starred in the Justice League Unlimited follow-up series, which aired from 2004 to 2006. Pierre was approximately 10 to 12 years old at the time. Perfect timing.
John Stewart will collaborate with experienced Green Lantern Corps member Hal Jordan on Lanterns—this is the version of the character Reynolds played, and Kyle Chandler plays him on the HBO series. Though Lanterns casting for both characters received much attention (remember when Josh Brolin turned down the Jordan role?), Pierre told EW that he was unaware of the public uproar.
“I was just locked into giving the very best version that I could of this beautiful character in the rigorous audition process,” he said. “I’m a firm believer that what’s meant for you won’t miss you. So, I gave my best and then set it free. Now I’ve been gifted the opportunity to bring this beautiful character to life and, hopefully, I serve John Stewart. Hopefully, I serve the Green Lantern Corps. We’re just really excited for the people to see what we put together here.”
Lanterns has no release date yet, but it will be available later next year or in 2026.
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(Via Entertainment Weekly / Bleeding Cool)
