Paul Ben-Victor Bulldozes Into HBO’s 'Lanterns'

From beyond the stars, we go down to the wire

He may be Ilan Rokolov on Netflix’s Nobody Wants This, but knowingly or not, DC Studios wants to keep Paul Ben-Victor around. Already having voiced Bulldozer in an episode of Creature Commandos, the actor of four decades has been cast in a key recurring role in another DC Universe series, HBO’s Green Lantern series Lanterns.

The actor will play Antaan, an alien devoted to exposing the truth and exacting vengeance against those who screwed over his people. It’s a devotion driven by a deep and unrelenting hatred for the law, making him determined to deliver justice on his own terms. Antaan, like so many characters in this series, is an original character. While browsing to verify such was the case, Google fed back a “Did you mean ant man dc comics” and Bing fed back a first result of a newly-constructed DC Universe Wiki page with the same source. So the original character conclusion is officially drawn.

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Ben-Victor is best known as Spiros Vondas, the main antagonist of the second season on HBO’s The Wire, who would recur across the fourth and fifth seasons, as well as Marshal Stan McQueen on In Plain Sight. His being Rokolov on Nobody Wants This is just the tip of the resume iceberg of recurring roles. It leads a stacked year that included returning to the role of Coach Thurman on Everybody Still Hates Chris, the animated revival of UPN and The CW’s Everybody Hates Chris, playing King Herod on The Chosen and Sly Funaro Sr. on The Lincoln Lawyer. Previously he recurred on Pam & Tommy, the 21st season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Goliath, Preacher and The Mick. His film work includes Daredevil (as Jose Quesada), Don Jon, Get Hard, and The Irishman.

Lanterns sees John Stewart, played by Aaron Pierre as the new Green Lantern Corps. recruit being paired with Lantern legend Hal Jordan, played by Kyle Chandler, together described as “two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.” As alluded to, Coy’s “Sanders” joins a cast full of characters who don’t originate from the comics. That includes Kelly Macdonald as Hal’s reported love interest, Sheriff Kerry, who seems to be pursued over the course of the season, Garret Dillahunt as “modern cowboy” William Macon, Jason Ritter as his son Billy Macon, and Poorna Jagannathan as Zoe, John’s reported love interest. John’s parents will play significant roles in two time periods. Mother Bernadette will be played by Jasmine Cephas Jones in flashbacks and Nicole Ari Parker in present day, while dad John Sr. is played in flashbacks by J. Alphonse Nicholson and in present day by Sherman Augustus. Currently, only Ulrich Thomsen as the villain Sinestro and Nathan Fillion reprising the Green Lantern Guy Gardner role he’ll debut in Superman are the only supporting characters who originate from the comics, where John’s parents are named Shirley and Henry. Chris Coy is billed as a guest star, playing an intelligent survivor or a nervous truck driver who goes by Waylon Sanders and is unbound by the laws of nature.

Showrunner Chris Mundy, previously of Ozark, and co-writers and executive producers Lindelof and Tom King all developed the show. James Hawes directs the first two episodes and also executive produces with Ron Schmidt. The other directors are Stephen Williams, Geeta Vasant Patel, and Alik Sakharov, while the costume designer is Cynthia Ann Summers. Lanterns is the first live action series crafted for the new DC Universe and premieres on HBO in early 2026.

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Source: Deadline