John Constantine's HBO Max future might no longer be in the cards, but actor Sope Dirisu is still excited about his upcoming theatrical sequel.
"Give 'em Hell, King," wrote Dirisu -- who was rumored earlier this year to be Warner Bros.' top choice for J.J. Abrams' Constantine series -- on Twitter in response to news that Keanu Reeves would return for a Constantine sequel. Accompanying his statement was a fan art mashup of Reeves' Constantine incarnation, smoking a cigarette while wearing a combination of his movie suit and the DC/Vertigo warlock's iconic brown trenchcoat.
Shortly after the Constantine sequel's confirmation, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that neither Constantine nor Abrams' DC supernatural series Madame X will debut on HBO Max, though both shows aren't officially dead yet. According to a Variety report, sources claim that "both Warner Bros. Television and Bad Robot remain extremely high on both projects and expect to find a new home for them both." It's currently unclear which networks will be interested in picking up either show or what effect these decisions will have on HBO's long-anticipated Justice League Dark series.
Constantine Returns to the Big Screen
Released in 2005, Constantine marked the first live-action adaptation of Alan Moore's occult detective antihero since his 1985 comic debut. Borrowing loosely from Garth Ennis' "Dangerous Habits" arc, it follows Reeves' John Constantine as he aids a detective named Angela Dodson caught in the middle of Heaven and Hell's ancient war on Earth, all while using this opportunity to potentially rescue his soul from damnation. Constantine received mixed reviews at the time from critics and was scrutinized for various creative liberties taken with its protagonist in the script, such as changing the traditionally blonde Brit into a dark-haired American and heavily revising his origin story. Since then, however, the film has gained a cult following, with Reeves affirming in interviews that he would "love to have the chance to play Constantine again."
Beginning with NBC's 2014 Constantine series, Welsh actor Matt Ryan has portrayed a more comic-accurate John Constantine across countless media. After his show was canceled, Ryan would move to the CW Arrowverse and continue playing Constantine on Arrow and DC's Legends of Tomorrow, as well as voice him in animated movies like Justice League Dark and, most recently, the HBO Max series Harley Quinn. Doctor Who star Jenna Coleman also played the gender-bent Johanna Constantine in Netflix's The Sandman adaptation, with audiences and creator Neil Gaiman reacting favorably to her take on the character. Gaiman has also openly supported calls for a Constantine-themed spinoff starring Coleman, as well as a spinoff show about fan-favorite Sandman character Death.
No official release date for Constantine 2 has been announced yet.
Source: Twitter