Keanu Reeves is set to return to the world of demons and angels in Constantine 2.
Released in 2005, Constantine might not be up there with Superman and Batman in the DC pantheon – at least, in terms of recognisability – but the movie has gone on to become a cult classic.
Since then, versions of the character – superhero demon hunter John Constantine – has appeared in several DC productions. Most recently, Doctor Who star Jenna Coleman appeared as Joanna Constantine in The Sandman, gender-fluid casting that brought a fresh twist to the character.
A standalone HBO Max series was due to go into production but has since been shelved. Instead, producer JJ Abrams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Lost) has pivoted from a TV miniseries to a big-screen return for Constantine.
Here’s all you need to know about the Constantine sequel.
When will Constantine 2 be released?
The script isn’t yet finished and filming is months away from beginning, so it’s safe to assume we won’t be seeing the Constantine sequel until 2024 at the earliest.
Who is in the cast of Constantine 2?
Keanu Reeves is back as John Constantine, supernatural exorcist and demonologist – in other words, he kicks demon ass.
Reeves has often spoken of his desire to reprise the role. ‘I just loved that world and I love that character,’ he told Variety in 2019.
Other casting will likely be announced in the coming months as the final edits of the script come together.
Constantine also featured Rachel Weisz as Angela, a Los Angeles Police Detective investigating the mysterious suicide of her twin sister, and Shia LaBeouf as Chas, who serves as an apprentice and driver for John Constantine.
There’s no word yet on their return or if we will see Tilda Swinton reprise her role as the Angel Gabriel or Fargo’s Peter Stormare as Satan, though the actor did seem to hint he’d return in an Instagram post back in 2020.
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Who will direct Constantine 2?
Fans of the 2005 movie will be thrilled to know that filmmaker Francis Lawrence (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire) is returning to direct the Constantine sequel.
Lawrence has previously spoke of his desire to make a more graphic take on Constantine in a sequel. ‘It would be great to do the really dark, scary version,’ he told MTV. ‘We got caught in that weird PG-13 no man’s land, and we should do the hard-R scary version, which I would love to do.’
Since his directorial debut with Constantine, Lawrence has found success with I Am Legend, Red Sparrow and The Hunger Games franchise.
At a 15th anniversary virtual reunion in 2020, Lawrence told ComicBook how Reeves had gifted him a replica of John Constantine’s holy shotgun seen in the film.
The script will come from The Da Vinci Code screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, who will also serve as producer alongside Bad Robot’s JJ Abrams and Hannah Minghella.
Abrams was set to produce the HBO Max Constantine series, which was in development but had since been axed.
What happened in Constantine?
The 2005 superhero-cum-horror movie was loosely based on DC Comics’ ‘Hellblazer’ books.
In the movie, John Constantine is a suicide survivor with terminal cancer, who believes he is destined for an eternity in hell upon his eventual death. As a detective with insight to the supernatural, he aims to earn enough goodwill to make it to heaven.
Constantine was set in Los Angeles, rather than Endland, with director Lawrence arguing that the comic book that the movie was based on is not exclusively set in London.
The movie failed to set the box office alight, grossing $230.9million worldwide against a budget estimated to be between $70-100million. The fair (but not overwhelmingly good) box office result is likely why there’s been a 17-year delay in making a sequel.
Constantine also failed to impress critics: it even made Rogert Ebert's infamous 'most hated' list.
Who is John Constantine in the DC comic books?
First making an appearance in 1985, John Constantine is a powerful occult detective from Liverpool, England.
As well as being an excellent con artist and negotiator, Constantine also possesses magic powers from necromancy to mind control, curses and illusion casting.
The chain-smoking spook detective has teamed up with the likes of Batman, Superman, and the Swamp Thing over several comic storylines.
What happened to the HBO Max Constantine series?
HBO Max and JJ Abrams were developing a Justice League Dark universe with one of the first series set to focus on John Constantine, with the reboot placing the character back to his British comic-book roots.
Variety reports that four scripts were already written for the adaptation.
It’s understood that because of Keanu Reeves’s return for the sequel, HBO Max will no longer be moving forward with the planned reboot series.
However, that’s not to say that another streaming service couldn’t pick up the project in the future.
Back in 2012, Guillermo del Toro was in talks to make his own Justice League Dark movie that would have included John Constantine, Swamp Thing, Deadman, Kloarian the Witch Boy, and other DC antiheroes.
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