Aaron Pierre Says LANTERNS Gave Him a “Deep Understanding” of John Stewart Before MAN OF TOMORROW
Before bringing the Green Lantern hero to the big screen in Man of Tomorrow, Aaron Pierre spent more than 100 days playing him in HBO’s Lanterns.
That extended time with the character gave the actor a major advantage when it came time to make the jump from television to James Gunn’s expanding DC cinematic universe.
Pierre plays a younger John Stewart in Lanterns, where the rookie Lantern works alongside Guy Gardner. Pierre had a long time to explore Stewart and find the version of the hero he wanted to carry forward.
Pierre told GamesRadar+: "For me, what was an enormous gift was having those eight hours of HBO [television] to live with before going onto Man of Tomorrow.”
Pierre was involved in nearly the entire production of Lanterns. He explained: "I was on the phone to [showrunner] Chris Mundy the other day. He was like, 'Congratulations, man. You filmed for 106 days out of 112.'
“Just on that note, to have 106 days with a character before going on in the DC cinematic universe is a gift. That is not a given. I am very grateful I had that.”
By the time Pierre arrived on the set of Man of Tomorrow, he has a foundation that actors joining a superhero movie usually don’t get.
"That's just the way it worked out. I don't know how intentional it was or wasn't, but I'm forever grateful for that. It allowed me to step onto the Man of Tomorrow set with a deep understanding of who my man John is."
That should make John Stewart’s transition between Lanterns and Man of Tomorrow particularly interesting to watch. The series gets the room to dig into who he is early in his Green Lantern career, while the movie can pick up with Pierre already knowing exactly how he wants to play the guy.
David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, and Nicholas Hoult return from Superman, while Edi Gathegi is back as Mr. Terrific, Nathan Fillion returns as Guy Gardner, and Isabela Merced reprises her role as Hawkgirl. The film also includes Milly Alcock as Supergirl, Lars Eidinger as Brainiac, and Xolo Maridueña returning as Blue Beetle.
With Pierre’s John Stewart joining that crew, Man of Tomorrow is shaping up to be a major meeting point for characters spread across several corners of the DCU.
Interestingly, Lanterns wasn’t written around the need to position John Stewart at a precise starting point for the movie. Showrunner Chris Mundy previously explained that the creative team had freedom when deciding where Stewart’s story would end in the season finale.
"We weren't tasked with having any specific landing point, which was great for us because it gave us freedom to land the story where we wanted to land the story.
“But John will be part of the greater DC Universe. That was good for us to know. And where we land him is somewhere that they're happy with us landing him and somewhere they can take him, if they want."
Lanterns can tell its own complete story without feeling like eight hours of setup for another project, while Pierre gets to take everything he discovered about John Stewart and carry it naturally into the movies.
Lanterns is available exclusively on HBO Max, while Man of Tomorrow is set to continue John Stewart’s DCU story in 2027.