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Aaron-Pierre-and-Green-Lantern-Split-H-2024.jpg

Aaron Pierre Is Playing John Stewart In 'Lanterns,' And Not Everyone Is Happy About It

By Brian Richards | TV | October 10, 2024 |

By Brian Richards | TV | October 10, 2024 |

Aaron-Pierre-and-Green-Lantern-Split-H-2024.jpg

Yesterday afternoon, it was announced that actor Aaron Pierre, whose performance in the Netflix film Rebel Ridge captivated audiences and caused many people to go “Who is that?!” while softly biting their bottom lip, was cast in the role of Green Lantern John Stewart for the upcoming HBO/DC series Lanterns. Pierre will be starring opposite Kyle Chandler, whose casting as Green Lantern Hal Jordan was also confirmed. (Why yes, I am hoping that Connie Britton will make an appearance on Lanterns opposite Kyle Chandler, why do you ask?)

According to James Gunn, co-CEO of DC Studios and writer-director of the upcoming film Superman, “[Lanterns is] the story of a couple of Green Lanterns, John Stewart and Hal Jordan, and we have a few other Lanterns peppered in there, but this is really a terrestrial-based TV show which is almost like True Detective, with a couple of Green Lanterns who are space cops watching over precinct Earth. In it, they discover a terrifying mystery that ties into our larger story of the DCU.”

From The Hollywood Reporter:

The casting caps one of the more scrutinized actor searches in some time. Not only is the show the first major TV endeavor from DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter Safran, but the role of Stewart carries much significance, as the fan-favorite comic book character was one of DC’s first Black superheroes.

The intense casting process came down to Pierre and Stephan James, who is on the festival circuit with drama The Piano Lesson and who starred in the 2016 Jesse Owens biopic Race.

Jeremy Saulnier, writer-director of Rebel Ridge, extended his congratulations once the news of Pierre’s casting became known to the public.

While many people on social media were happy and excited about who was chosen to be John Stewart in the DCU, there were others who simply refused to celebrate this news, and for one simple reason: John Stewart is Black and dark-skinned. Aaron Pierre is Black and most definitely not dark-skinned.

Every version of John Stewart who has appeared in comic books, video games, and in animated series such as Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, and Young Justice has been unmistakably dark-skinned, which is how he was always intended to look, according to his co-creator, the late and legendary artist Neal Adams. Even when Zack Snyder filmed additional footage for the ending of Zack Snyder’s Justice League so that it would introduce John Stewart to the DCEU, a decision that was shot down by Warner Bros. because they supposedly had their own plans for the character, he hired actor Wayne T. Carr, a dark-skinned Black man, to play the role. There is no denial of how talented Pierre is, and how he is likely going to knock this role out of the park once the cameras start rolling. But his undeniable talent and good looks don’t change the fact that Hollywood largely and unsurprisingly still relies on colorism when it comes to casting most Black actors in major roles, and those roles (particularly heroic roles with positive, three-dimensional characterization) often end up going to actors who are Black, but fall into the “But Not Too Black” category when it comes to their appearance.

Some fans are not just angry at casting directors in Hollywood for taking part in colorism, but they’re also angry at light-skinned actors who take these roles, and who do so while fully aware that some of the roles they’re hired for are roles that should be played by dark-skinned actors. It’s a concern that was brought up and discussed when Amandla Stenberg was cast in the lead role of Starr in the film The Hate U Give, which is based on Angie Thomas’ 2017 novel of the same name. However, the novel’s version of Starr is described as having medium-brown skin (and is illustrated by Debra Cartwright as a dark-skinned Black girl with an Afro on the cover), and Stenberg is a light-skinned biracial woman who appears in the film with straight hair. Zendaya has also spoken in interviews about her responsibility to not accept every role that is offered to her, simply because she is, as she memorably put it, “Hollywood’s acceptable version of a Black girl.”

“But John Stewart is Black, and he’s being played by a Black man! I don’t get why people are so upset about this!” First off: Stop talking. Second: No, really, stop talking! Third: Excuse me for one moment as I proceed with rolling my eyes hard enough to get them stuck in my godsdamn forehead in response to that statement and all variations of it. Fourth: Black people are not a monolith. And finally: You sound just as ridiculous and delusional as the people who didn’t understand or care about the colorism that was clearly evident in Disney’s casting decisions for the live-action version of Lilo & Stitch. (Pepperidge Farm still remembers how actress Alexandra Shipp was cast as Storm in X-Men: Apocalypse, and Shipp, who is a light-skinned Black woman, pissed off some Black X-Men fans with her comments about the backlash she received for playing beloved comic book character who is notably dark-skinned.)

This isn’t the first time that colorism has made its presence felt when it comes to casting decisions in Hollywood, and it damn sure won’t be the last. For further evidence of colorism and racism that you can choose to either acknowledge or ignore, look at the abuse and harassment that Francesca Amewudah-Rivers received for starring opposite Tom Holland in the recent stage production of Romeo and Juliet, and this recent Twitter thread highlighting the absence of any Black women of any skin tone in the casts for these upcoming projects aimed at young adults.

If James Gunn was hoping for an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response to the DCU as we get closer to the rebooted cinematic universe becoming a reality (which of course isn’t even happening now, due to some fans online who are still furious about the DCEU not being allowed to continue, while others feel that this is the third Green Lantern casting that’s been mishandled due to Nathan Fillion and Kyle Chandler being too old to play Guy Gardner and Hal Jordan), then he’s in for a rude awakening. Especially when Black fans of DC Comics are now expecting the worst from Warner Bros. and DC Studios when it comes time for them to start casting Vixen and Nubia.

To those of you who are wondering if and when James Gunn (who usually answers questions from fans and naysayers alike on Twitter and Threads when it comes to rumors and news about the DCU) will say something about these complaints and accusations of colorism, much like how Lin-Manuel Miranda spoke up about the issues of colorism in the film version of In the Heights, ask yourselves this: Do you really want a rich, fiftysomething white man in Hollywood to open his mouth, or let his Twitter fingers do the talking, about anything that has to do with colorism? Is this something you think would actually end well for him?

If he proves me wrong, and he does say something about this? Here’s hoping Gunn shows better judgment when talking about Black men starring in DC projects than Joss Whedon.