Though Fox’s Gotham may be my most anticipated show of the 2014-15 fall season, I’ll also be keeping a close eye on another comic-influenced series – NBC’s Constantine, which adapts Alan Moore’s beloved graphic novel Hellblazer. With Matt Ryan in the lead role and a refreshingly dark and Gothic feel, this series may just manage to do justice to its source material (provided it isn’t axed as quickly as most of NBC’s other ambitious shows).
A new trailer for Constantine debuted at Comic-Con and has now made its way online, reiterating mostly stuff we already knew about this series but doing so in a stylish and entertaining manner. As the series opens, we see that John Constantine (Ryan), an exorcist and meddler in the dark arts, has been condemned for failing in his efforts to save a little girl from the powerful demon Astaroth. In order to fulfill a promise he once made, Constantine eventually pulls himself out of self-pity and seeks out Liv Aberdine (Lucy Griffiths), who is marked for death by a demon.
That Griffiths left the show recently after her character was written out makes me wonder how important Liv is really in Constantine, though this trailer certainly plays up her character. However, as long as the writers haven’t bungled the announced transition from Liv to a comic-book character named Zed (Angelica Celaya), Constantine’s appeal will likely keep the show from flying off the rails as it goes through growing pains.
The switch in lead actress aside, this trailer makes a strong case for Constantine as a creepy, fun new series visually and narratively reminiscent of The CW’s Supernatural. When one considers how long that show has been running, the showrunners are likely crossing their fingers that the comparison holds water post-premiere.
Constantine premieres October 24th on NBC.