Why the DC Universe Already Has a John Constantine
By Elisabeth DS
The recent releases of casting possibilities for the "Justice League Dark" have been leaked. For those of you who haven't heard, the latest possibilities have been Colin Farrell and maybe even Ewan MacGregor, though he may be slated for Jason Blood/The Demon instead of our favorite dark mage. Now while both actors are great and have definitely shown us their acting chops in several movies such as "In Bruges" for Mr. Farrell and "Trainspotting", or a little more recently, "Big Fish" for Mr. MacGregor, and they could probably play the role of John Constantine decently, the role is already taken.
I am speaking of, of course, the latest and sadly cancelled 13 episode series that recently aired on NBC and is now syndicated on El Rey Network, "Constantine". I was one of the largest supporters of this show from my own little corner of the world here in Colorado, and was deeply upset when it was finally cancelled. John Constantine is quite possibly one of my favorite comic book characters, and the movie released in 2005 of the same name was, let's face it, barely even close to accurate. Sure, the main character's name was the same, he smoked and he was a jerk to everyone around him and even had a cab driving friend named Chas, and there were demons. The similarities tend to stop there. And while the movie is good if you ignore the inaccuracies and pretend it's its own movie and not related to an established comic book canon at all, it caused more harm to the character than anything else. There are movie-goers and fan girls thinking John Constantine is Keanu Reeves when he really looks like Sting (intentionally drawn that way) and acts like Johnny Rotten.
Welsh actor Matt Ryan was given the role of John Constantine for the short-lived TV show and played the role as if he'd lived every single comic ever written. While some comic book DC shows are running with whatever canon they wish to do, specifically "Arrow" and "The Flash", "Constantine" tried to stay as true to the character as network TV would allow. Somehow he managed to get smoking back on TV in a world where it's frowned upon, and even his walk felt genuine. On occasion parts of the show even felt like direct panels from the comics, and it brought me back to when I was first introduced to the character in junior high.
I discovered punk rock through the comic book "Hellblazer" and have never entirely gone back. "The Sex Pistols" are one of my favorite bands and I only ever listened to them because of how passionate John was about them. I loved the story arcs that I got from "Hellblazer" as they were something I didn't and couldn't get from other comics such as "Batman" or "X-Men" who were always so clean. In the world of DC, there has been some edginess, but not as much as there could be, and while that was partially due to the comic book code, we don't have that excuse anymore. I always felt that, while I love DC comics, the heroes were always good and the villains were never as bad as they could have been. While the Joker has done some terrible things, and let's remember when he killed Jason Todd that was fan voted, and Batman has done some questionable things as well, they still have some sort of air of playfulness, of innocence that never really existed in "Hellblazer".
*From here on out, there may be spoilers for comics or the TV series, FYI*
In the world of John Constantine, mistakes are made all the time and, because of one specific mistake that was focused on in the "Constantine" series, the damnation of Astra, a little girl John had been trying to save which resulted in John's own damnation, John's desperation became painfully clear. Did he accept his fate? No. Did he accept Astra's? No. But most of all, John quite possibly would sell out anyone to save his own skin, and everyone around him knows that that's always a risk. And while that sounds like a major character flaw, the fact that John is terrified of his own damnation and desperate to save himself as well as, if possible, Astra, makes him more relatable than any comic book character I've ever come across. We've all had to make bad decisions, questionable ones, perhaps. Some much smaller than others, of course, but still, that fear is a base human instinct that can't be avoided. Fight or flight, and John chooses to do both.
While some fans of the "Hellblazer" comic book were disappointed in the TV show, the main issues with it were not the writing or the acting. The main issues were what NBC would allow the show to do, and John Constantine is not a network TV kind of character. Just as Ryan Reynolds had to campaign to get "Deadpool" an R rating, John Constantine is an R-rated kind of character. Let's take Frank Castle for example, The Punisher. Trying to make him into a PG-13 movie made the character feel disingenuous. The 2004 film "The Punisher" felt more like a Saturday Morning Cartoon than anything else. Matt Ryan worked hard on the character he was given with the limits he was given, and he did it in such a way that John Constantine felt real.
There may be star power in people such as Colin Farrell and Ewan MacGregor, but what good is that really? There was star power in people such as Michael B. Jordan and Kate Mara in the latest "Fantastic Four" and look how well that went. That movie has a 4.3 rating on IMDb and that's being generous. Having an actor who can capture the audience, such as Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, rather than being extremely well known, can drive the character more than a well known actor at times. And then there's Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston from "Thor", two not well knowns at the time of that movie and look at them and their characters now. Loki himself has practically taken over the entire MCU, and he seems pretty proud of it. Lastly, Sebastian Stan from the same universe as Winter Soldier AKA Bucky Barnes, another not well known who has become well known because of his abilities with that character. When an actor manages to form a bond with a character, that can be enough to bring fans in.
Matt Ryan may not be as famous as Colin Farrell and Ewan MacGregor, but what he brings to the character is what's most important. If the DC Cinematic Universe wants to build its franchises on names rather than well developed characters, then they run the risk of the characters being underdeveloped and the movies bombing tragically. If they would rather give us, the fans, movies that have great characters and are well written, that's what I'd prefer. For instance, I was an anti-"Ant-Man" hold out as I am a huge fan of Hank Pym and was deeply upset when I found out they were looking at Scott Lang instead of one of my favorite Marvel heroes. Though, when I finally went to see the movie, I had to eat my words. It was well written and the characters were wonderful, and Paul Rudd was not as well known as Colin Farrell and Ewan MacGregor. Of the phase 2 MCU movies, "Ant-Man" was the second best, behind "Guardians of the Galaxy", to me… another movie without a well known actor (at the time) as the main star.
While the show "Constantine" was cancelled, John has lent a hand to Oliver Queen in "Arrow", establishing him even more in the DC Universe. Fans are still trying to get "Constantine" a second chance, and unless Matt Ryan flat out says "no thanks", he deserves a chance to claim his rightful spot in the DC Universe, on the big screen, and show people the real John Constantine.
SORCES: Machinima ETC News
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