DC co-CEO James Gunn has methodically been releasing new content, both in theaters and streaming with a HBO Max subscription. While there are upcoming DC movies to look forward to, we're just weeks away from the premiere of Lanterns on HBO. Aaron Pierre will play the iconic Green Lantern John Stewart, although it turned out that he had a gnarly injury while auditioning to play that role. Let's break it all down.
What we know about Lanterns has been limited, but fans who spent years watching the DC movies in order are hyped to finally see the cosmic heroes return to live-action. While appearing at San Diego Comic-Con (via People) Pierre spoke about the serious injury he was dealing with while competing for his role in the new series. In the actor's words:
I had my tendon separated from the bone. My bicep went all the way up to my shoulder. I remember my team gave me a call and they said 'Look you have this opportunity. You are in the final, I can't remember what it was, final 2 or 3 at that point. And I had just had surgery. I'm walking around like this. I can't even fully extend my arm. I don't have pronation, supination. They said 'Do you still want to do it?' I was like 'Don't ask silly questions let's go.'
Ouch. I can't even imagine what this type of injury would feel or look like, but the idea of one's bicep wandering up to the shoulder is the thing of nightmares. Regardless, that didn't stop Aaron Pierre from showing up to the callbacks and trying his damnest to become a member of the Green Lantern Corps.. Clearly his talent spoke for itself, despite being in a brace.
Pierre told the rest of this story to the crowd at Comic-Con, which had a big reaction to the injury he sustained in the midst of his Lanterns audition. He continued by saying:
I went into the callback and I was still in my brace. And I did my final callback in my brace... I just wanted the role so much.
Of course, we know how things eventually turned up. The Lanterns trailer showed what Aaron Pierre would look like as John Stewart, although it's gotten some backlash over a lack of powers and green. Still, anticipation for the upcoming series has been steadily building. You can see the actor's comments about his injury below:
It should be fascinating to see how the Green Lantern Corps. is handled in Lanterns, and how the HBO series possibly influences future projects. While we were introduced to Nathan Fillion's Guy Gardner in Superman, the show will be able to offer more lore and context about the team of cosmic peacekeepers as a whole.
Lanterns will debut August 16th on HBO as part of the 2026 TV schedule. Fingers crossed Aaron Pierre gets to go from TV to the big screen as John Stewart soon.
