Courtney B. Vance hopes ‘Lovecraft Country’ becomes “event TV” and has the cultural impact of ‘Black Panther’

While portraying an altruistic and noble uncle to Jonathan Majors’ Atticus was undoubtedly of interest to Vance, the actor tells ABC Audio that he was actually “drawn to the project” because of the creator Misha Green’s vision.

“I didn’t know a whole lot about it,” he says. “She sat me down and told me the story. And I just said, ‘I’m in. Let’s go.’ I know her vision is big. It always has been.”

Although fans may not get to see Courtney on every episode, the Emmy-Award winner says he can “only imagine what we’re all in store for” during the season. In fact, Vance says he already has high hopes on just how impactful the series will be.

“I’m excited about the possibility of this turning into what everyone had at HBO — and Misha had in their minds — which is this is going to be a seven, eight year journey,” he says. “That it becomes what Game of Thrones was, which is event TV.”

“That’s what these series do to people,” Vance continues. “They force you to talk about it and what’s coming up. ‘I can’t wait till Sunday!’ You know, it’s that, ‘The new season is here! It’s here!’ and everybody’s tweeting about [it.]”

If those aspirations aren’t enough, Vance says he’d even like to see the series have the cultural impact of a Black Panther.

“It’s what Black Panther was when people were saying, ‘I got the trailer…Can you believe it?,'” he says. “And everybody’s talking about it. That to me is what the ultimate goal and… ultimate satisfaction would be. And that will be revolutionary.”

Lovecraft Country airs Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.