When people think of DC characters, there are a few that pretty much always come to mind. We’re talking the big-names, like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash — characters that tend to get a lot of spotlight and show up on both the big and small screen with some regularity. While there’s no denying that those heroes are awesome, however, DC has a deep roster of pretty amazing characters that don’t always get the attention they deserve. They’re the unusual characters and not always the flashiest, but 21 years ago today, one of the coolest got their own, deeply underrated movie — and a sequel is on the way meaning this dark favorite will have yet another chance to shine.

Directed by Francis Lawrence, Constantine was released in 2005 and stars Keanu Reeves as the titular John Constantine, a cynical demon hunter with the unique ability to see and communicate with half-demons and half-angels as well as travel between Earth and Hell who is tasked by a police officer to investigate the mysterious death of her twin sister only to find himself caught up in a much larger supernatural plot. The film also stars Rachel Weisz, Shia La Beouf, Tilda Swinton, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Djimon Hounsou, Gavin Rossdale, and Peter Stomare and while the film was met with mixed reviews and a modest box office, it quickly became a cult favorite.

Constantine Isn’t the Most Comics Accurate DC Movie (But It Doesn’t Need to Be)

One of the things that is particularly interesting about Constantine is that, as movies based on DC characters go, it’s not particularly comics accurate. The film is only very loosely based upon the Hellblazer comic book series which features John Constantine and while that could be off-putting for some die-hard fans, it actually works as its own thing. It isn’t hard to consider the movie’s Constantine as being almost an alternative universe or multiverse take on the character. The characters are just different enough — Reeves’ Constantine having slightly different abilities, black hair, and his damnation being centered around a suicide attempt rather than the comics Constantine who is blond and resembles the musician Sting, is from England, and is damned because he summoned a demon that killed a young girl — that you get something that doesn’t require you to have read comics to appreciate, but can recognize if you have.

By being a much looser, non-canonical adaptation of the character, Constantine also allows for some of the intangible elements of the comics to shine through in a way that a more direct adaptation might not have allowed. While Constantine takes inspiration from the “Dangerous Habits” storyline in comics, the shift in motivation for Constantine opens the door for the film to lean into the darker atmosphere and feeling of the story. These are things that are more easily captured on a comic book page but are harder to pin down in a live action adaptation. By freeing the story from beat-by-beat elements, it leans into things more stylistically, giving the film the same sort of feeling — and it’s a feeling that fans have wanted more of for two decades and may finally be getting after all times time.

We’re Closer Than Ever to a Constantine Sequel

While fans have been practically begging for more Constantine (specifically a sequel — a more comics-accurate version of the character has graced the small screen both on NBC and as part of The CW’s Arrowverse) it wasn’t until 2022 that it was confirmed that a sequel was finally in development. That sequel is set to be an Elseworlds project, meaning that it will be outside of the mainstream DC Universe, and while it does not yet have a release date or has even entered production, the updates we do have on the project are the most promising yet. Late last year, Reeves was asked about the film’s status and he revealed that a new draft of the Constantine 2 script had come in and that it would be going before the studio. If the studio is happy with the script, it’s not impossible that things could start moving forward pretty quickly for the project, though there are still plenty of hurdles to clear before everyone’s favorite demon hunter makes his way back to the big screen again.

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