Netflix star lands role as DC superhero after fans demand leading man status

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Aaron Pierre has joined the cast of HBO’s Lanterns, Warner Bros announced on Wednesday (October 9).

Based on the DC comics of the same name, “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,” per an official logline.

Pierre will play Stewart, while a casting for Jordan has not yet been announced; although, Deadline reports that Kyle Chandler is being eyed for the role.

Pierre’s casting comes a month after he won over audiences in Netflix’s Rebel Ridge. Directed by Jeremy Saulnier (Blue Ruin, Green Room), the film follows a former Marine (Pierre) who confronts corruption in a small town when local law enforcement unjustly seizes the bag of cash he needs to post his cousin’s bail. Don Johnson stars as a corrupt lawman.

After its September 6 premiere, viewers quickly took to social media to question why the British actor wasn’t already one of Hollywood’s leading men.

“Am I allowed to say a star is born? Is that hyperbole?” one fan questioned on X. “It sure doesn’t feel like it given Pierre’s undeniable charisma and the force he commands on screen. There’s something about Pierre in this film that I think will draw the attention of many viewers. He’s the foundation of Rebel Ridge & allows this film to thrive.”

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Born in London in 1994, Pierre made his screen debut in 2017 in ITV’s Prime Suspect 1973. He has since appeared in Amazon Prime Video’s The Underground Railroad TV adaptation and M Night Shyamalan’s Old (2021).

He voices the digitally animated lead of Mufasa: The Lion King, which arrives on December 20 this year.

Lanterns is being made by Ozark’s Chris Mundy, Watchmen’s Damon Lindelof and comic book writer Tom King.

James Gunn and Peter Safran, Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs of DC Studios, said of the series: “We’re thrilled to bring this seminal DC title to HBO with Chris, Damon and Tom at the helm. John Stewart and Hal Jordan are two of DC’s most compelling characters, and LANTERNS brings them to life in an original detective story that is a foundational part of the unified DCU we’re launching next summer with Superman.”

This isn’t the first time that a live-action Green Lantern story has been brought to screens. Hal Jordan was infamously portrayed by Ryan Reynolds in 2011’s widely derided Green Lantern.

Directed by Martin Campbell, the film became one of the biggest box office bombs in movie history. It grossed just $219m (£182m) from a $200m (£166m) budget and received scathing reviews.

Speaking at the 2023 Just For Laughs comedy festival in London’s O2 Arena, Reynolds told Q&A host Rob Delaney his reaction to seeing the film for the first time.

Reynolds said: “The words were ‘holy s***’ and ‘no, no!’”

He continued: “It was crazy. It was an odd feeling. It was not a feeling I wanted to repeat. So I really spent the following years just owning as much as I could, it was the only way to kind of process it.”