The superhero genre continues to be wildly popular, with a number of shared universes competing for box office supremacy. While moviegoers are looking forward to upcoming Marvel movies, there’s countless questions about what’s coming with the new DC Universe, especially related to casting. So would DC’s Green Lantern be a fit for MCU star Sterling K. Brown? Here’s what the actor thinks.
The cast of Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther is absolutely stacked, and Sterling K. Brown had a small but important role in that movie as N’Jobu, the brother of the late King T’Chaka. Some fans want to see the This Is Us star in an upcoming DC movie as Green Lantern John Stewart, and it turns out he’s a huge fan of that character. In a recent interview with Rotten Tomatoes, he spoke about his relationship to that iconic Green Lantern, offering:
I watched that Justice League cartoon religiously in like high school, college right after, etc. It was dope. Seeing John Stewart, knowing that there was a black Lantern was something like, in terms of representation, was like ‘Oh Man! There’s a space for me in this world and I see it,’ right? And when I would look at him, I would think, ‘I kind of look like this cartoon.’ [Laughs]
Clearly there’s a ton of love for John Stewart, with Brown offering a personal example of the importance of representation in the media. So fan casting for him as Green Lantern suddenly feels a bit more realistic. Someone get this man a ring!
DC studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran are forming a new shared universe, and the first slate of projects is titled Gods and Monsters. Not much is known about these plans, or what’s coming next. And as such, fans are theorizing and casting a number of heroes, including fan favorite Green Lantern John Stewart. Later in that same interview, Sterling K. Brown spoke about the fan chatter about him in that role, saying:
If it could happen, that would be legitimately exciting. That would be one of those giddy-inducing moments in life, because my kids would sort of get it, without me having to explain it to them
Make it happen, DC! Brown wouldn’t be the only actor to play roles in multuple shared universes, and his tenure as N’Jobu is seemingly over since he wasn’t in the cast of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. And he’s certainly go the acting chops to pull of playing John Stewart in live-action.
Despite Green Lantern being a popular franchise in DC comics and Hal Jordan being a founding member of the Justice League, its a corner of the lore that’s barely been explored in live-action. There were have been talking about a Green Lantern Corps. movie and TV series, and the new DCU makes things all the more complicated. For now the character’s life in media is streaming with a Max subscription.
The new DC Universe will begin with Superman: Legacy on July 11th, 2025. In the meantime, check out the 2024 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.
