Why Antaan From Lanterns Looks So Familiar

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Episode 2 of "Lanterns." Proceed accordingly.

When the mysterious Antaan showed up on "Lanterns," we couldn't help but pay attention. After abducting John Stewart (Aaron Pierre), this shadowy figure reveals a new threat to Earth in the form of the Manhunters, a synthetic race of shape-shifters that predated the Green Lantern Corps. Some have speculated that Antaan may be the DC Comics villain Atrocitus in disguise, but whoever he really is, Paul Ben-Victor is a face that television viewers probably recognize.

This isn't Ben-Victor's first television rodeo. He made his TV debut in a 1987 episode of "Cagney & Lacey" and landed his first recurring role as Steve Richards on "NYPD Blue" in 1994. His first major TV role came on the short-lived Sci-Fi Channel action-comedy "The Invisible Man," where he played former U.S. Marine Robert "Bobby" Hobbes in all 45 episodes.

Ben-Victor later landed one of his most recognizable roles as Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos in Season 2 of "The Wire," rarely seen without his trademark newsboy cap. He briefly returned in Season 4 and again for a handful of episodes in the final season. Fans may also recognize him as Alan Gray on "Entourage" and Coach Thurman on "Everybody Hates Chris," a role he reprised in animated form on "Everybody Still Hates Chris," a sequel that deserves better.

Paul Ben-Victor remained a television regular with "In Plain Sight," where he played by-the-book Marshal Stan McQueen, Mary Shannon's (Mary McCormack) boss, for all five seasons. He followed that with guest spots on shows like "Vegas," "Person of Interest," "Hawaii Five-0," and the first season of HBO's "True Detective," an inspiration for "Lanterns" that remains one of the best first seasons of television out there.

More recently, Ben-Victor has taken on several recurring roles. Since 2024, he's appeared on "The Lincoln Lawyer," "Bookie," "M.I.A.," and Netflix's remake of "Man on Fire." He also played Herod Antipas in the biblical drama "The Chosen" and Phil Russo in Starz's '90s-centric "Power" prequel "Power Book III: Raising Kanan." Ben-Victor is set to star opposite Jeremy Strong in the upcoming Netflix reboot of "The Boys from Brazil," though no release date has been provided as of writing.

"Lanterns" isn't Ben-Victor's DC Universe debut, either. In 2024, he voiced several characters in James Gunn's animated "Creature Commandos," including World War II soldier Horace Eustice "Bulldozer" Canfield. 

New episodes of "Lanterns" Season 1 are available to HBO Max subscribers on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET.