Lanterns utilized movie magic to show Aaron Pierre's hair and beard growth while portraying John Stewart during a military flashback sequence in Episode 3. The DC Studios and HBO Max series introduced viewers to Pierre's life across several periods, including as a young boy, during his military years, and in the show's main time periods of 2016 and 2026. To differentiate these various time periods, Pierre would often be outfitted with different hairstyles and beards.
One such occurrence takes place in Episode 3 of Lanterns, which showcases Stewart's time in the United States Marine Corps, during which he was posted on a months-long assassination mission in the wild.
During this time, Stewart's hair length changes to indicate the passage of time, but the studio opted to circumvent this challenge with CGI rather than wigs or prosthetics, as many may have suspected.
A behind-the-scenes video posted by visual effects studio CoSA VFX, which provided special effects support for Lanterns, confirms that Pierre's face was altered with CGI for the military flashback sequence, rather than using practical makeup.
In reality, Pierre had close-cropped hair and was clean-shaven in the scenes; in the flashbacks, he is shown growing a thick beard and longer hair, reiterating just how long he'd been stationed on the mission.
Using this method avoided the need for Pierre to wear multiple wigs or facial hair prosthetics for the montage sequence, and the studio likely opted for CGI rather than practical effects to save time on set.
CoSA's VFX Producer Eddie Bonin and VFX Supervisor Christopher Lance explained in the featurette how the studio helped to showcase Stewart's passage of time during the sequence using digital imagery. Bonin said there were "a lot of exciting opportunities" when it came to showing John Stewart in his military years:
So in episode three, we get to tell the audience who John is at a deeper level. So you know, our main story is happening current day, but to be able to go back to John's history all the way back to when he was a kid and then in a sequence that we worked on with CoSA where he was actually still military and in the middle of performing these missions and being covert. There was a lot of exciting opportunities there."
Lance added that "we needed to show John's hair and beard growth during his extended mission." To accomplish this, the CoSA team used "scans of Aaron Pierre's face," in order to provide an accurate amount of hair growth on his face:
"There were a lot of discussions about marking the passage of time and the determination was that we needed to show John's hair and beard growth during his extended mission. So, we were really fortunate to have the scans of Aaron Pierre's face so we could generate the right hair length onto his precise geometry."
Stewart's hair growth in the sequence is particularly important to impart just how long he's been on his military mission when Hal Jordan arrives and botches it for him. Stewart recalls in the episode that he was sent into the Russian wilderness to assassinate a target, which resulted in him being camped out for months while waiting for the optimal window to take his shot.
This whole mission was ruined, however, when Jordan swooped in just as the Russian oligarch was finally emerging from his haven and flew away with the target, resulting in Stewart being dishonorably discharged.
The extensive hair and beard growth on Stewart during this period proved just how much he went through on this mission, only for it all to be for nothing.
The Many Faces of John Stewart
Lanterns' sprawling, time-jumping structure led Pierre to adopt many different looks as John Stewart. In earlier periods, Stewart was often depicted clean-shaven with cropped hair, reflecting his military roots. However, in the 2026 timeline, the older Stewart was defined by a stylized goatee.
This helped to place the audience as Lanterns hopped between its various time periods, solving the mystery of Hal Jordan's murder and exploring Stewart's journey to becoming a Green Lantern.
Next for Pierre is a return as Stewart in Man of Tomorrow, which will pick up after the events of Lanterns' 2026 timeline, meaning Stewart is likely to sport a look similar to the one at the end of the HBO series. However, it's not yet known exactly how long after the Lanterns' events Man of Tomorrow will take place, and any kind of time jump between the two could radically alter Stewart's look after he became Earth's second, very different, Green Lantern, which could inspire a different look to match his new identity.
