John Constantine is one of the most successful breakthrough comic characters of the past 40 years. Debuting in the dripping horror of the Louisiana swamps in Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing in 1985, the Liverpudlian con man, trench-coated warlock, and occult detective has broken through to DC’s top tier.
That is not bad for a character initially based on Sting. His looks, that is—there’s no suggestion that Sting tinkers in dark mystic arts or that Constantine willingly spends too much time with The Police.
He shares a quality with other comic book characters who’ve moved into the mainstream consciousness since the late 1980s. Like Marvel’s Deadpool and DC’s Harley Quinn, environments adapt to suit Constantine. In DC continuity, he’s one of the few beings capable of retaining memories after a Crisis event. He’s chain smoked through 300 issues of his own title, unusually aging in real-time over 25 years, but also rubbed shoulders with the Justice League and Sandman. These days, he may be more commonly found rune-casting against an Elder God in a mainstream DC event, but a dark legacy of abuse, suffering, and risky attempts to fool the hordes of Hell is still locked in his back catalog. No wonder he’s so popular.
Constantine’s first comic series, Hellblazer, was one of DC’s Vertigo imprint’s greatest successes and led the boom in occult horror. By pulling the main character into the main DC universe during the New 52 era, Constantine has had to walk a fine line as only he can. That includes breaking from the page to meet his creators, according to at least four writers who say they’ve seen Constantine in real life, most notably the character’s creator, Moore. Most have steered clear—probably best considering the trail of destruction, broken relationships, and grief left in his wake. There’s no word on whether actors who’ve brought the magic user to the screen have been visited by their character, but the possibility hasn’t put them off.
Here’s our ranking of the best onscreen John Constantines.
5. Damian O’Hare, Justice League Action (2016-2018)
This Cartoon Network show was an action-packed and fun dip into the adventures of DC’s premier super-team. The show made the most of a vast membership, and Constantine was part of the revolving roster. He was voiced by Damian O’Hare, who sported a southern English accent as Constantine went hands-on with magic in keeping with his comic appearances since the New 52. It’s always fun to see Constantine as both a team player and the one character who shouldn’t be allowed to play with others. While he took the recurring joke of being called “hobo” well, he wasn’t handed the best one-liners and should have done better against Klarion the Witch Boy.
4. Keanu Reeves, Constantine (2005)
There’s no such thing as a bad Constantine, fact. The 2005 movie got a lot right, and the passing years have been kind to the mage’s bold first move into live action. On the face of it, Constantine made massive changes from the Hellblazer comic. In fact, the warlock was still marching through his Vertigo epic when this adaptation came out. Director Francis Lawrence got the tone right. Despite keeping his dark hair, Canadian accent, and Keanuisms, Reeves was an effectively worn version of the character.
Constantine didn’t shy away from the physical pain and horror surrounding the character, even if it was a blunt take on the character, but Reeves kept standing to overcome the odds. Packing a holy shotgun and a strong dose of nihilism amid swirling cigarette smoke helped.
It was a good move to pick up Garth Ennis’s definitive comic story arc, Dangerous Habits. Before bringing us Preacher and The Boys, Ennis was one of the mage’s great writers. A 15th-anniversary panel reunion in 2020 kept the embers of a sequel alive, and Keanu’s Constantine deserves a come-back, and the DC Multiverse is a huge place.
3. Jenna Coleman, The Sandman (2022)
The Sandman comics were part of the DC-Vertigo multiverse, but Netflix’s adaptation? Not so much. Dropping the early cameos from Justice League members freed up the story, and it was a neat move to combine John Constantine and his swashbuckling 18th-century ancestor, Johanna Constantine. Yes, strictly speaking, Jenna Coleman isn’t playing John, but the emphasis on the lineage enhances this faithful portrayal. The warlock’s brief touch on this universe is as disruptive and emotional as it was in the comics.
The chapter, Dream a Little Dream of Me, is a perfect dark primer for the wizard, with some great embellishments and updates as well as a throwback to the nightmarish Hell incursion that cost her young Astrid Logue. One loss is a road trip to The Brambles, with Morpheus hitching a lift.
The extra time gives Coleman’s Constantine a chance to jump from horrific exorcisms to an emotional appeal to the Lord of Dreams that sticks. Gender-swapping one side of the relationship at the story’s center also reflects Constantine’s bisexuality, confirmed in the early 1990s. There’s a lot to play with, and Coleman portrays it brilliantly, and she has made a top-quality Constantine with more to come. Her Cockney accent is an interesting choice though, considering Coleman grew up in Blackpool, less than 30 miles from Liverpool.
2. Taran Egerton — The Sandman (2020)
“Constantine, after all, is just a human. Just one human,” Morpheus famously says in The Sandman.
Egerton took the role in the faithful adaptation that pleasantly surprised fans when it arrived on Audible during the pandemic. Considering the Netflix adaptation was warming up, the cast was phenomenally good, including the inspired pick of Egerton as the Liverpudlian mage. It’s a brief appearance, but it remains the most faithful Constantine adaptation yet. The weariness, the favors from mates, and the knowing regret at the effect he has on anyone who meets him were all there. You could almost see the trench coat swirling in the sand.
Naturally, this performance hits many of the same emotional beats as seen in Netflix’s The Sandman. Egerton just beats Coleman’s brilliant version, thanks to the accent.
1. Matt Ryan, Constantine (2014)
Matt Ryan can claim to be the definitive onscreen Constantine, even if his version is rooted in the modern mainstream DC Universe version. That’s not to say the dark past and untrustworthiness aren’t there; that’s baggage no Constantine can drop. However, Ryan has done the most to drag the Scouse icon into the mainstream, even breaking through multiple DC properties.
NBC’s dark Constantine TV series was well received but short lived. Fortunately, its leading mage couldn’t be contained. That history was retconned into the Arrowverse when Ryan jumped across to bring his quality Constantine to Arrow and as a major role in Legends of Tomorrow from its third year.
Ryan’s gruff, charming, and cocky Constantine relied on his Welsh accent with a hint of Scouse vowels. His mannerisms, including his swagger, were spot on. The traditional chain smoking wasn’t going to happen, but his portrayal worked across to the DCAU and Harley Quinn animated series. Few things say John Constantine like that ability to adapt and thrive.