In news that took everyone by surprise given James Gunn and Peter Safran’s complete overhaul of the DCU, as well as rumors claiming that the exact opposite was forthcoming, Warner Bros. confirmed that Keanu Reeves’ long-awaited Constantine sequel remains in active development.
Given that it wasn’t mentioned by the co-CEOs during their Chapter 1 – Gods & Monsters announcement, many took the silence as gospel that the beloved actor wouldn’t be getting the opportunity to reprise the role he’s spent two decades trying to play again. And yet, by extension, Constantine 2‘s survival could mean that we might actually end up getting a J.J. Abrams DC project one of these days.
The polarizing filmmaker and producer has been roasted more than once for signing a massive development deal with the studio worth hundreds of millions of dollars, only to repay WB’s exorbitant level of investment by delivering absolutely nothing. Justice League Dark, an episodic Constantine reboot, and Zatanna are just three of the titles to have been picked up and then discarded, but there may be a light at the end of the tunnel.
Matt Reeves’ The Batman universe and Todd Phillips’ Joker saga have been rebranded as Elseworlds titles, and while we haven’t heard a peep out of the long-gestating reinvention for a long time, Abrams and Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Superman story hasn’t been 100 percent officially canned as far as we’ve been made aware publicly.
Then again, if Gunn himself is writing and potentially directing Superman: Legacy, then maybe he won’t want to share.