Green Lantern casting: 'I would love to confirm something but can't,' says Fast and the Furious star Tyrese Gibson

Fast and the Furious star Tyrese Gibson has been lobbying for the role of Green Lantern in Warner Bros' DC Cinematic Universe for a long time now. The actor shared some developments on that front in his recent interview, teasing that he "would love to confirm something today but can't".

"I've already had a couple of meetings at Warner Bros, so we'll see what happens," Gibson told Collider. "I do believe that there needs to be more black superheroes out there, but that's not even my motivation. I think I would be the best Green Lantern and based on my fans and supporters that spent around $6 billion in box office receipts, I feel like there's a fanbase of fans out there waiting to see me put on this green suit and do my thing. So I would love to confirm something today but I can't. We'll just keep following up."

Gibson also stated that the idea of him playing a superhero was sparked off by his fans over the internet.

"Well, I was innocent from the beginning. I was at home eating a bowl of Lucky Charms in my drawers, my ugly feet were out, and I got about six direct messages on Instagram with photos of me as the Green Lantern," the actor said.

"This particular fan who did this fan art said that there was a community of people that had been talking for like a month and a half about who they think would be the best Green Lantern and they all picked me. I said to them, 'I took the oath, and I am going to commit myself to this process of seeing what's possible.'"

Ahead of Warner Bros' Comic-Con panel earlier this month – where the studio showed some concept art and revealed the title 'Green Lantern Corps' rumours started circulating that actors Chris Pine and Tyrese Gibson have been cast as fellow Green Lanterns.

"The consensus now is that the film will be in the vein of a buddy cop movie, with two Green Lanterns at its center," states the Collider report.

In the DC Comics Universe, the Green Lanterns are an intergalactic police force formed of aliens from many worlds.

John Stewart, an African-American Green Lantern, first appeared in the comics in 1971 – 31 years after the first Green Lantern story was published. He was the first black superhero who appeared in DC Comics.