Michael Jai White Uses Fan Art to Express His Interest in Playing John Stewart and Green Lantern

By JB Augustine

·October 19, 2019

There aren’t many details or even full confirmation on the Green Lantern Corps movie rumored to be in development at Warner Bros. But, someone with serious comic-book cred has shown interest in playing one of the most popular Lanterns of Sector 2814.

Spawn and Black Dynamite actor Michael Jai White shared art to his Instagram portraying him as John Stewart with a Green Lantern ring and wrote the following:

“John Stewart is one of the most requested roles I receive from fans. I really appreciate the support & would gladly welcome the idea of joining the Green Lantern Corps if given the opportunity!”

Also in the artwork is a depiction of his wife Gillian, an actress who appeared in Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown and the soap opera Days of Our Lives, as Vixen. She and White have been married since 2015.

Check out this video of White telling about when he professed his love for Gillian:

He continued by thanking the artist, Breno Moreira:

“Thank you @breno10moreira for this John Stewart x Vixen rendition featuring me as John Stewart & my wife.”

Fans and Friends Support White as John Stewart

The comments were full of support for the idea from fans and friends of White. Michael Jai White is a martial artist as well as an actor. Fellow martial artist/actor Paul Logan, also a Days of Our Lives alumnus, commented White “would be a PERFECT John Stewart.”

White played Spawn in the 1997 film adaptation co-starring John Leguizamo and Martin Sheen. Years later, he recurringly played Bronze Tiger on Arrow so he is familiar to DC fans and thus one of their most requested potential castings.

Here at Bounding, we ranked a top 5 of who we’d like to see play John Stewart. The list included Winston Duke, John Boyega, Damon Wayans, Jr., Interstellar actor David Gyasi, and Shameik Moore. We also conducted a poll and Duke led the pack in the results.

Ricky Whittle, star of Starz drama American Gods, conveyed his interest in playing Stewart to SYFY Wire last March. Whittle said Stewart is “an important character” and spoke straight to Geoff Johns, saying, “I am definitely up for it. I’m a huge fan.”

Related: American Gods’ Ricky Whittle Wants to Join the Green Lantern Corps as John Stewart

John Stewart Origins

John Stewart, created by Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams, debuted in 1971 and is recognized as the first African-American DC superhero. He’s been a friend and ally of Hal Jordan and bore the ring of Green Lantern time and again.

His popularity grew by leaps and bounds when he replaced Hal on Cartoon Network’s Justice League and Justice League Unlimited series and was voiced by Phil LaMarr. He hooked up with Vixen on JLU to avoid his fate of having a son with Hawkgirl.

A CW TV series starring Arrow’s David Ramsey as a Stewart from an alternate Earth in the Arrowverse has been talked about too but it’s only a rumor right now.

Green Lantern Corps Movie

Hal Jordan and John Stewart are reported as characters in the Green Lantern Corps feature film that’s been in the pipeline for a few years. Co-produced by Geoff Johns and his new company, Mad Ghost, it is listed as in development on Mad Ghost’s website and IMDb. The logline on the former reads:

“GREEN LANTERN CORPS – Once of DC Comics’ greatest Super Hero universes, the film will feature Hal Jordan and John Stewart… IN DEVELOPMENT.”

The project could get derailed by a Green Lantern Corps series for HBO Max, produced by Greg Berlanti, centering on Kyle Rayner or JJ Abrams. The Star Trek and Star Wars Force Awakens director closed a deal with Warner Media and rumor is he’s having “conversations” about adapting DC creations including Green Lantern, Superman, and Justice League.

Who do you want to play John Stewart? Michael Jai White? Would you rather see Green Lantern Corps as a TV series or movie? Tell us below.