The sequel to 2005's Constantine finally got announced, with the movie a completely unexpected development from Warner Bros. Discovery. The Keanu Reeves film was a low-key release back in the day due to its divergences from the source material. Nevertheless, it's now a cult classic, with the sequel already anticipated by many.
But the focus on Reeves' Constantine puts him in a competition with actor Matt Ryan. Playing the character in his eponymous TV series and in the Arrowverse, Ryan is much closer to what many imagine when it comes to Alan Moore's John Constantine. With one version of Constantine getting a movie follow-up and the other likely finished, it's time to pit them against each other and see who's the true Hellblazer.
Keanu Reeves Played a Completely Different John Constantine
Outside of a jacket, tie and a propensity for smoking cigarettes, Keanu Reeves' Constantine doesn't immediately recall the comic book character as imaged by Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette, Rick Veitch and John Totleben. Dark-haired and American instead of British, the character in the movie wasn't exactly the blimey bloke that fans were used to from DC and Vertigo Comics. At the same time, there were definitely some similarities to the source material.
Constantine was still a chain-smoking, down-on-his-luck detective of the paranormal, harboring a cynical disposition that made him especially angry at God and the world at large. Unlike more recent interpretations in the comics, he wasn't constantly using magic or mysticism, being more of a con man than anything else. That directly matched how he was originally written in the Hellblazer comic book, and it's a characterization that makes him far different from the superheroes of the DC Universe. On that front, at least, Reeves' version was just what Moore originally envisioned.
Matt Ryan's John Constantine Was Visually Much Closer to the Classic Character
Matt Ryan's Constantine debuted in the NBC Constantine TV show before making a small appearance in the fourth season of Arrow. From there, he would become a regular character on the fellow Arrowverse series Legends of Tomorrow, which made sense once the show took on a more supernatural bend. Ryan's blond hair and British accent made him far closer to the Constantine of the comics. He's also something of a cross between his classic incarnation and his more modern variant, making him both more and less accurate than Reeves' Constantine.
Since the New 52, wherein Constantine became a firm part of the DC Universe again, the character became more "superheroic," utilizing flashy magical abilities far more than he had in previous stories. Ryan's Constantine is somewhat like this, with his first appearance in the Arrowverse involving a grandiose exorcism of sorts. Another element brought in from modern comics was that his pansexuality was emphasized more than ever, adding up to make Ryan's Constantine more of an adaptation of the New 52 version than the classic incarnation.
Matt Ryan's Constantine Beats Keanu Reeves' in Accuracy and Emotion
Obviously, Ryan has Reeves' Constantine beat from appearance alone, immediately recalling the comic book character far more than the version seen in the 2005 film did. However, it goes beyond mere looks, with Ryan's Constantine having more of the character's somewhat jovial nature. Sure, he's still a smug, cynical individual who's utterly disgruntled at life, but he's meant to be that way while also being somewhat convivial. Reeves' Constantine never even comes off as smarmy, instead being merely angry and world-weary. This closer capturing of the character's spirit is why Ryan has continued to portray Constantine outside the Arrowverse.
But despite being the inferior adaptation of the character, Reeves' Constantine will be getting further adventures in the form of a new cinematic movie. It's still unclear if this movie and its predecessor are standalone or will become entries in the DC Extended Universe, but Ryan's version already knows about making a retroactive entrance in a shared universe. And given what he did when he got there, he's easily the best version of Constantine outside the comics.