Recently, it was announced that J.J. Abrams and his wife Katie McGrath would executive produce a Justice League Dark television series for the upcoming HBO Max streaming platform. In the comic books, the team is made up of powerful magical users from the DC Universe that take on threats too dark for the regular Justice League to handle. The superhero team's original iteration included such characters as Zatanna, Swamp Thing and John Constantine.
Currently, we already have a brilliant portrayal of John Constantine on television, as played by Matt Ryan on DC's Legends of Tomorrow. Ryan has portrayed the character ever since the failed 2014-2015 NBC television show Constantine. Eventually, Ryan's version of Constantine made the jump to the Arrowverse, first for a guest stint before he became a member of the Legends.This version of the character is a long-time fan favorite, which is why some would probably be eager to see him make the jump to yet another universe. However, as great as Matt Ryan is in the role, he simply shouldn't play Constantine on J.J. Abrams' Justice League Dark.
Matt Ryan first appeared in the Arrowverse during Season 4 of the franchise's flagship show, Arrow, in 2015. Since then, the character has regularly appeared on DC's Legends of Tomorrow. That means, from his self-titled series to now, Ryan has played the character on and off for six years. During that time, the actor has shown that he has a great handle on Constantine, who has been on plenty of adventures, battling evil spirits, taking on monsters and traveling through the time stream. We've seen him at his darkest and at his funniest. What's more, he's been on his own as well as part of a team. Essentially, we've seen this version of Constantine go through it all.
With HBO Max's Justice League Dark, we are certain to get a much darker take on the DC Universe, one that will be far more disturbing than The CW's Arrowverse. The show will be different tonally, and it will most assuredly have a different look. This series will be its own thing, and J.J. Abrams will surely have his own specific vision for the superhero team. For the series to shine, it should stand on its own, apart from the Arrowverse or anything else that has come before. And because of this need for a fresh start, the series is better off casting another actor in the role of John Constantine.
Ryan has had more than his fair share of time to shine in the role. In this day and age of superhero entertainment, we have seen multiple actors take on the same character on the big and small screens. There's no denying that Ryan is great as Constantine, but other actors could also bring Constantine to life -- and perhaps introduce new and different qualities to the character. Besides, if Ryan were to appear on the series, then fans would undoubtedly start to wonder where Justice League Dark falls when it comes to the Arrowverse. This would draw the focus away from the show itself, instead triggering debates about where and how it connects to the other DCTV shows.
Justice League Dark has a better chance of standing on its own if it offers something completely new, without being attached to other movies or television series. DC is already widening the Arrowverse with Stargirl and the upcoming Superman & Lois. But there is more than one DC Universe out there, and Justice League Dark has a better chance to succeed as its own separate entity. And for that to happen, it needs a brand new cast.
Airing Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow stars Caity Lotz, Dominic Purcell, Nick Zano, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Tala Ashe, Matt Ryan and Jes Macallan.