Director Neil Marshall Thought Matt Ryan “Was Fantastic” As John Constantine But Considers The Character An Awkward Fit For TV: “It Was Just Impossible”
Matt Ryan is the actor most synonymous with John Constantine this side of Keanu Reeves, something nobody would have said 20 years ago. Reeves and his one-shot adventure were as far from the Hellblazer’s origin story as you could get despite his film becoming a cult classic.
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Ryan, coming from the British Isles, embodied the character and his street-wise swagger a lot better, and he did so for years longer than anyone anticipated on the small screen and in animation. It all started on a short-lived NBC series before he migrated over to the Arrowverse on The CW.
Hellboy director Neil Marshall, who brought his vision to the series for a few episodes, reflected on Constantine’s evolution across networks. As interesting as observing that journey was, he couldn’t help but notice the complications of adapting an antihero more suited for a hard-R affair.
“That was great. It was fantastic to see,” Marshall said to Josh Wilding of ComicBookMovie in a Zoom interview, adding how badly Constantine was defanged for primetime. “Again, it was the case of trying to do an R-Rated character in a U-Rated show! It was just impossible.”
Marshall continued, “They’d taken away his smoking, his drinking, his swearing and cursing…it was like, ‘C’mon, what are we left with?’ Matt was brilliant and I’m so glad the character went on to live another life.”
As a filmmaker, Marshall has experienced more downs than ups when dipping his toe into the pool of comics and superheroes, but he won’t say no to doing another adaptation. “I’d gladly return with the right material. Absolutely,” he said.
Marshall is promoting his latest movie coming to theaters called Duchess while Matt Ryan hung up his trench coat and tie, and put away his magic after Legends of Tomorrow gave him a sendoff that didn’t sit well with everyone.
Arrowverse producer Marc Guggenheim explained to Showrunner Whisperer that Legends was backed into a corner over Constantine. “I’ll tell you, the only time that bothered me – and I was off the show, as a showrunner by this point – the only time that really bothered me was Legends being told that we could no longer use Constantine,” he said.
Why was never crystal clear but it might have to do with JJ Abrams and his abandoned Justice League Dark universe which included a Constantine series that would allegedly race-swap the wizard.
“I would say that was a pretty realistic deduction and, obviously, given the fact that show never came to pass,” said Guggenheim. “It’s particularly disappointing that we had to shift gears with Matt, who is not just terrific as Constantine, but just a terrific actor in general.”
But what of Keanu Reeves? He could return to the mystic arts and do battle with the forces of Hell in a sequel reuniting him with Francis Lawrence, Akiva Goldsman, and Peter Stormare, Such a project was announced, but updates are scarce lately.
NEXT: ‘Constantine’ Writer Reveals The Sequel Was Once Shelved In Favor Of A New ‘Swamp Thing’ Movie
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