Tyrese Gibson has been the opposite of shy when it comes to letting people know that he wants to play the John Stewart version of Green Lantern in the upcoming DC comics movies. Up until now he was really the only one making any noise about his desire to play the role. However, somebody else just threw their Lantern in the ring in a big way. His name is Lance Gross and he wants to be an Emerald Knight.
How do we know this? Well, Gross has posted this on his personal Instagram page:
While Tyrese is a fairly well-known name, what with him being Fast and/or Furious and all, Gross is a relative unknown and you're forgiven if the name doesn't ring any bells. You’ve very possibly seen him in one of numerous television appearances, but unless you were an avid watcher of Tyler Perry’s series House of Payne he’s probably not a name you recognize. He was mentioned as a potential choice for the Netflix/Marvel Luke Cage series, however. That didn't work out, so apparently he's checking out the other side of the fence.
Being unknown isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Ben Affleck notwithstanding, the rest of the current DC Universe are not what you would call Hollywood stars. Henry Cavill was hardly a household name before he was cast in Man of Steel. It’s entirely possible that Gross not having a history in blockbuster film will help him land the role for the potential blockbuster.
We learned at San Diego Comic-Con that the upcoming Green Lantern film would be called Green Lantern Corps, and knowing the film will not just include, but focus, on multiple lanterns makes it all but certain that the John Stewart character will be in the film. Of course, before the dedicated Lantern film there will be the Justice League movie. It’s less clear how many, or which, Lanterns will be seen in that film, so it’s very possible casting of John Stewart could be literally years away. Having said that, Tyrese has claimed to have already had meetings with Warner Bros. In addition, the rumor has always been that the first Lantern we will see will be Stewart, if for no other reason than to distance this set of films from the Ryan Reynolds flop.
We wish the best of luck to both actors and anybody else who wants in on the action. We love to see people wanting to play the next big comic book superhero. While it’s hard to tell how much this kind of lobbying actually helps make casting choices happen it’s certainly one way of making sure that everybody knows you want the role and may help you get that first meeting at any rate.
