John Constantine, the Bad Boy of the DC magical universe, may be back on our screens sooner than we thought. The Illuminerdi is reporting that HBOMax and J.J. Abrams are working on a Constantine reboot. Abrams has been tied to a Justice League Dark project for the streamer.
If you can believe it, the word is they want to make a darker take on the character. The previous adaptations focused on the magical nature, specifically “the sell-your-soul-to-the-devil” sort of magic with divine intervention and battles with demons and angels. This time around, they want to center more of the action around the character’s horror roots – perhaps as a way to stand out from the previous iterations seen in the Keanu Reeves 2005 film and the 2014 NBC television adaption starring Matt Ryan who would go on to play the character across the CW’s Arrowverse. Of course, being on the streaming service would allow for much more graphic horror elements than were included in the previous television series.
According to sources, the studio wants to cast a “BIPOC actor in their late 20’s, similar to a young Riz Ahmed” for the petty dabbler of the dark arts. Of course, the 2005 version with Keanu had no attempts to make him like his comic counterpart. He was not British or blonde. Matt Ryan’s version was a much more comic accurate version. A Riz Ahmed type would distance the new series even more from its predecessors focusing on a younger, edgier John, perhaps while still fronting his punk band, Mucous Membrane, and who is just beginning his journey into supernatural.
A new series centered on the established character could help jumpstart the long in development Justice League Dark. Director Guillermo del Toro tried to develop the team into a live-action feature back in 2012. He worked to develop and write a script for 5 years, before leaving the project “stuck in development.” Bad Robot announced they would be developing the IP in 2020. Novelist Guy Bolton (The Pictures) has been tapped to write the series.
In recent months, there have been rumors of a sequel to the 2005 film with Reeves involved. Matt Ryan has continued to appear in various CW shows when needed. Constantine is also rumored to be featured in the upcoming Netflix Sandman series.
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