With John Constantine finding success on TV, with Matt Ryan playing the role across the Arrowverse, now seems like the right moment for the Hellblazer to return to cinema screens. The last time he starred in his own movie was 2005’s Constantine, which was initially blasted for the flagrant changes it made to the character. Over the years, though, DC fans have come to look fondly on the film and it’s become a firm cult favorite. Particularly as the internet’s current hero Keanu Reeves is in the lead. So, it might even be in Warner Bros.’ best interests to get Reeves back in the role.
In fact, if you’re a regular WGTC reader, you may know that we’ve previously told you that the studio is considering inviting the John Wick star back to play Constantine in the DCEU. His original movie performed solidly at the box office, after all, earning around $230 million – though that apparently wasn’t enough to warrant a sequel. And you can bet that nowadays it would earn a load more, considering the “Reevesnaissance” and the surge of comic book cinema.
What’s more is that according to our sources – the same ones who said Robert Pattinson had beat out Nicholas Hoult for the role of Batman, and that The CW was developing an Arrow spinoff – if Reeves was brought aboard, the idea would be to tackle the character similarly to how Fox handled Deadpool. If you’ll recall, Ryan Reynolds made his debut as the Merc with a Mouth in 2009’s infamous X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Though the prequel was panned, Reynolds was praised as a perfect bit of casting. Fast forward to 2016, then, and the actor was back as Wade Wilson, albeit a slightly different version, disconnected from Origins. So, this is how it’d be if Reeves played Constantine again – same character, same actor but different iteration.
This scenario appears to be only in the “maybe” column for now, however, as Reeves is a busy guy these days. Marvel Studios may also snap him up first, as we know they try to find a role for him in every one of their movies. However, the star has said he would like to return as the occult detective, so it’s entirely possible that this plan will go ahead.
In any case, while we wait for additional details on how WB will proceed, tell us, would you like more of Keanu Reeves as Constantine? Or do you prefer a new, more faithful, version of the anti-hero?