If you're a film fan with a Netflix subscription, you've almost certainly watched Jeremy Saulnier's white-knuckle thriller Rebel Ridge at some point in the last month. And if you've watched Rebel Ridge, then you'll have seen its star, Aaron Pierre, put in one of the performances of the year as hyper-skilled, hyper-competent former marine Terry Richmond. It's a turn that clearly caught the eye of the folks in charge of HBO's upcoming DC Green Lantern show Lanterns, as Pierre has just landed the co-lead as the series' young buck Lantern John Stewart.
Co-written by the creative trio of showrunner Chris Mundy (True Detective: Night Country) and co-writers Damon Lindelof (Watchmen) and DC Comics legend Tom King, Lanterns — which landed itself a straight-to-series 8-episode order back in June — will see Pierre star opposite Kyle Chandler, who's set to take on the role of veteran Lantern Hal Jordan. Per the show's official logline, 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." Taking cues from series like True Detective, Lanterns is shaping up to be a grittier take on the Green Lantern Corps — and one that promises to be a far-cry from that 2011 effort. And Pierre's casting is a real statement of intent from DC Studios' new head honcho James Gunn, who took to X earlier to share his enthusiasm for the DCU's John Stewart pick, saying, "Welcome to DC, Aaron Pierre. After a long and grueling series of auditions I am absolutely sure we’ve found an incredible John Stewart."
With news coming earlier this week that Slow Horses director James Hawes has already signed on to helm the show's first two episodes, and now confirmation at last of who Lanterns' Hal Jordan and John Stewart will be, everything is starting to come together nicely for a show that's been through the wringer to finally get made. We don't know when exactly Lanterns will land on our screens just yet, but while we wait we can at least look forward to seeing more from Aaron Pierre very soon — the in-demand actor is set to roar new life into the King of Pride Rock as Mufasa in Barry Jenkins' upcoming Mufasa: The Lion King this Christmastime. We guess you could say that the new Lantern has a bright future ahead of him!