Earlier this week, Kyle Chandler of Friday Night Lights entered negotiations to star as Hal Jordan in the HBO series Lanterns, inspired by DC Comics’ Green Lantern characters. Now Deadline reports that Aaron Pierre (Rebel Ridge) and Stephan James (Homecoming) have emerged as the top choices to play Jordan’s fellow Green Lantern John Stewart. Snowfall‘s Damson Idris was apparently in the mix at one point as well, but it looks like the conversation has come down to Pierre or James. Deadline’s sources caution that no offers have made to either one of them… yet.
Lanterns has officially been given an eight-episode straight-to-series order by HBO, Warner Bros. Television, and DC Studios. Chris Mundy (True Detective: Night Country) will serve as showrunner and executive producer and will co-write the series alongside Damon Lindelof (The Leftovers) and Tom King (Supergirl), who will also executive produce.
The series, which is part of the new DC Universe that’s being overseen by James Gunn and Peter Safran, “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.” Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content, said, “We are elated to be reuniting with both Chris Mundy and Damon Lindelof as they partner with Tom for this fresh take on DC’s Green Lantern. As part of James and Peter’s vision for the DC Universe, this first new live-action series will mark an exciting new era.”
Gunn and Safran said, “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.“
As we’ve previously noted, a different Green Lantern series had been in development for years. From Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Seth Grahame-Smith, that one would have told a story “spanning decades and galaxies, beginning on Earth in 1941 with the very first Green Lantern, secretly gay FBI agent Alan Scott, and 1984, with cocky alpha male Guy Gardner and half-alien Bree Jarta. They’ll be joined by a multitude of other Lanterns — from comic book favorites to never-before-seen heroes.” Jeremy Irvine (Treadstone) was set to play Alan Scott alongside Finn Wittrock (American Horror Story) as Guy Gardner, but the project was completely redeveloped.
So now we have Lanterns, with Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan and, it seems, either Aaron Pierre or Stephan James as John Stewart. Who would you like to see take on the role of John Stewart? Let us know by leaving a comment below.