Shades of Lucifer! Have we been pronouncing John Constantine’s name wrong all this time? To put the matter to rest, a fan asked Neil Gaiman on Tumbler about the pronunciation of this Master of the Dark Arts’ last name.
For many, the pronunciation follows what was heard in Keanu Reeve‘s movie of the same name. “Constan-TEEN.” The same pronunciation was heard by Matt Ryan in various Arrowverse shows and on his short-lived NBC series. After all, shouldn’t the lead character know how to pronounce his own name?
So imagine the confusion hearing the cast, and Gaiman himself, pronounce the Hellblazer’s last name as “Constan-TYNE” during interviews for The Sandman series.
A Rose By Any Other Name
“Constan-Teen” or “Constan-Tyne.” A rose by any other name, right? Well, not really. According to Gaiman, how he pronounces the name is exactly how the character’s name is supposed to be said:
Alan Moore named and co-created the character, and that’s how he pronounced it. And that’s how it was pronounced in the comic he first showed up in.
Unless you are a fan of the Hellblazer in comic book form, this bit of information is not new. In fact, during the Arrowverse crossover event “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” the writers did throw a little shade when Lucifer (Tom Ellis) said, “Consider us even, John Constantine.”:
A Different Constantine For The Sandman
It is a bit of a devastating blow to those who have been saying his name incorrectly all this time. What’s also devastating is the fact that John Constan-“TYNE” won’t be featured in the Netflix series. Instead, Johanna Constantine (who is said to be a relation of John’s) will be there in his place. You can blame the CW and HBO Max. Seems that the rights to the character are tied up with them. Warner Bros has been looking to feature the Hellblazer in a live-action project. They first tried in the now-defunct Justice League Dark project. Currently, a solo series around John is in the works for HBO Max. (I wonder which pronunciation they’ll use?)
So there you have it! The debate is settled. In the meantime, expect to see Johanna Constan-”tyne” when The Sandman premieres on Netflix on Friday, Aug. 5.
