The HBO series “Green Lanterns” cast Aaron Pierre as John Stewart

HBO's dynamic duo for next week Lanterns The drama is over!

Aaron Pierre joins the DC superhero series as John Stewart opposite Friday Night Lights Veteran Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan, Weekly entertainment has learned.

It's a big year for Pierre, who starred as an ex-Marine in the Netflix action film Rebel Ridge and next he will be seen (or more accurately heard) as the voice of young Mufasa in Disney's The Lion King Prequel film. He also had prominent roles on Amazon Subway Series, the indie film Enemythe M. Night Shyamalan film Oldand in Nat Geo's Genius: MLK/X as Malcolm X. He recently joined the cast of Apple The Morning Show.

Pierre was reportedly in the running for the role of John Stewart alongside Stephen James, who stars in one of this year's hot potential awards contenders The piano lesson and previously played in If Beale Street could talkthe story of Jesse Owens race, Selmaand the one led by Chadwick Boseman 21 bridges.

The eight-part episode LanternsInspired by the Green Lanterns of DC Comics, John sees himself as the newest recruit to the Lantern Corps, an intergalactic police organization dedicated to protecting the cosmos. A Lantern's primary weapon is the Power Ring, which is powered by willpower and grants its wielder the ability to summon virtually anything they can think of, including shields, offensive power blasts, armor, weapons, and constructs.

John teams up with Hal, who is considered a legend in the Corps, to oversee the Earth district. They head to the American heartland to investigate a murder and find themselves in the middle of a dark, Earth-based mystery that has larger implications for the overarching DCU plans that will span across films and series.

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“We have a few other lanterns there, but this is really a terrestrial TV show that looks almost like this True detective with a few Green Lanterns acting as space cops to watch over the Earth precinct,” said James Gunn, co-head of DC Studios and director of Supermansaid in an earlier video presentation accompanying the announcement Lanterns.

Speaking of prestige HBO crime films: Chris Mundy True Detective: Night Country serves as showrunner Lanterns. Mundy is also co-writing the show with his HBO colleague Damon Lindelof Guardian and prolific DC Comics creator Tom King.

The character John originated in the comics as a former architect and US Marine Corps veteran. He is also considered one of DC's most prominent black superheroes and has only gained more popularity over the years through his appearances in the animated series Justice League And Justice League: Unlimited cartoons.

Hal, meanwhile, began his journey in the comics as a test pilot who became the first human member of the Green Lantern Corps. when he came across the remains of a dying Lantern in the middle of a crashed alien spaceship. Josh Brolin was originally offered the Hal role in Lanternsbut the actor declined, as EW previously reported.

Lanterns is part of a major overhaul of Warner Bros.' DCU plans driven by Gunn and his DC Studios colleague Peter Safran. Gods and monstersthe name for the first phase of interconnected titles between the big and small screens, starting with the animated series in December Creature Commands. We'll continue with next year's event film Supermanwhich will introduce another Green Lantern alongside John and Hal, Nathan Fillion's Guy Gardner.

In a joint statement released when Lanterns Gunn and Safran said, “John Stewart and Hal Jordan are two of DC's most compelling characters.” Lanterns brings them to life in an original detective story that forms a fundamental part of the unified DCU we launch next summer Superman.”