A new rumor contends that the American John Constantine played by Keanu Reeves in the 2005 film Constantine could be making a return on HBO Max. The rumor suggests that the new streaming platform, which has a planned Justice League Dark series coming from executive producer JJ Abrams, will also have a series of feature-film solo movies that will introduce the characters before they come together for the Justice League Dark series. Word of a potential Constantine movie comes on the heels of reports last week that a Zatanna film is in the early stages of development with Warner Bros. Pictures.
The notion that Reeves could play a role in bringing the character of Constantine, and the Justice League Dark, back to mainstream audiences is an interesting one. While there is no hard backing beyond internet rumors by “scoop”-obsessed reporters, both Reeves and Warners have expressed at least vague interest in bringing back Reeves’s Constantine over the years.
“I’ve always wanted to play John Constantine again,” Reeves said in an interview last year. “I just love that world, too, and I love that character. I just had a blast playing a character and [playing] in that world.”
Reeves’s Constantine was not a huge hit, but it did turn a profit, earning around $230 million on a $100 million budget. Shortly after its release, other stars from the film including Shia LaBeouf and Djimon Hounsou would go on to be much bigger successes in Hollywood, making the already star-studded cast (it featured Rachel Weisz and Tilda Swinton, with Lucifer played by John Wick: Chapter Two and Arrow baddie Peter Stormare) all the more impressive.
John Constantine and Zatanna are characters who have been at the heart of most Justice League Dark stories since the idea was introduced during DC’s “New 52” publishing initiative almost a decade ago. The character of John Constantine appears on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, and those fans have hoped Matt Ryan’s take on the character might still get to stick around on The CW even if there is a Justice League Dark movie making demands on the character. If Reeves were to bring the American Constantine to the HBO Max platform, that might actually help to distinguish between the more comics-accurate, British Constantine on the broadcast TV show and the American one played by Reeves on the streaming TV series and related movies.
With DC building out a new DC Universe of big-budget shows like Green Lantern (with all of those variables in mind, this might be the first time the notion of Ryan Reynolds returning as Green Lantern might be a more plausible possibility than we had previously imagined), Constantine is a smart property to tap back into. News that The Flash movie and Michael Keaton’s Batman will open the door to an entire DC Multiverse also makes seeing something like Keanu Reeves’ Constantine return a thrilling stepping to possibly uniting every DC movie ever made as one big franchise.
The next DC film will be Wonder Woman 1984, which will be in theaters on October 2. Reeves will next be seen in Bill & Ted Face the Music, which is currently slated for a late August release. Fans can get more details on both this month, with Wonder Woman 1984 having a presentation at DC’s FanDome virtual convention while Comic Con International’s Comic-Con@Home event will feature Bill & Ted Face the Music.
Justin Morgan helped bring TeslaBel from a weekly newsletter to a full-fledged news site by creating a new website and branding. He continues to assist in keeping the site responsive and well organized for the readers. As a contributor to TeslaBel, Justin mainly covers mobile news and gadgets.
