Nearly two decades have passed since Keanu Reeves starred as the title character in 2005’s Constantine. Regardless, Reeves is gearing up to play the occult detective once again in a sequel helmed by the original movie’s director, Francis Lawrence. Although not the most faithful interpretation of the Hellblazer mythos, Constantine has developed a loyal fanbase in the years since its release. So while there was much rejoicing among its defenders when Warner Bros. officially announced Constantine 2 back in September, others were less enthusiastic about the news. But according to Lawrence, the first film’s cult following wasn’t all that convinced WB to greenlight a sequel.
Lawrence briefly discussed the road to Constantine 2 in a new interview with Collider. A sequel to Reeves’ film has long seemed like a pipe dream. Mainly, because other incarnations of John Constantine have sprung up over the last 17 years. Actor Matt Ryan famously brought a more comic-accurate version of the character to live in his own short-lived NBC show before eventually relocating to the Arrowverse. More recently, J.J. Abrams was developing a now-scrapped Constantine reboot for HBO Max. Still, Lawrence and his collaborators never gave up on the franchise.
“It’s something that we’ve been talking about since we made Constantine because we all loved it,” said Lawrence. “So we’ve been talking about it, talking about it, talking about it. All the DC [properties], because Vertigo is part of DC, that sort of like the control of those properties got complicated with Warner Bros. with DC, with J.J.’s deal, you know, all those kinds of things. There’s a lot of complicating factors. So it was never Akiva [Goldsman], and Keanu, and I happen to be sort of convinced to do it. It was really trying to figure out how we can get some sort of control over the Constantine character again.”
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Additionally, Lawrence acknowledged that Collider’s own 15th anniversary panel for Constantine, which took place during 2020’s San Diego Comic-Con@Home event and featured himself, Reeves, and screenwriter Goldsman, may have helped move the needle in their favor. However, it sounds like Warner Bros. took note of Reeves’ 2021 appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as well.
“[Reeves] was asked what character he’d love to play again,” recalled Lawrence. “And he said John Constantine, and the crowd went nuts. People finally saw that and went, ‘Oh, wait, maybe you guys can go and make the Constantine sequel.’ So it was sort of a variety of factors.”
Warner Bros. still hasn’t announced a release date for Constantine 2.
Are you glad that WB is taking another chance on Reeves and Lawrence’s version of the character? Let us know in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: Hellblazer by Garth Ennis Omnibus
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