If you read and believed all the rumors you read last year—if you’re the kind of person who puts credence in every single report that hits the Internet—you would have thought that a new “Constantine” movie or series was in the works, Keanu Reeves was going to star in it (again), and J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot would be involved. And, it was all going to be revealed at DC Fandome.
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Well, nope, none of it happened. The J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot element of the story wasn’t hard to surmise. His company was already reported to be developing a “Justice League Dark” series, and the Constantine character is part of that comic, usually. Not much of a leap to suspect anything “Constantine” related would cross their purview. ANYHOW, that’s the longwinded way of saying a “Constantine” series is in the works from J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, it’s going to be set up at HBO Max, and little of that element is a surprise given the aforementioned “Justice League Dark” series is also set up at HBO Max.
Hey, maybe they’ll even ‘Avengers’ this shit, by making a series for all the lead ‘Dark’ characters and then having them all meet up in the eventual “Justice League Dark” series (Variety confirms the two will tie together). Deadline says Guy Bolton, has written the pilot script, and he has plans to open up a writers room in March. Variety also adds, “The show would reportedly follow a younger version of the character and focus more on the horror elements of the comics rather than the religious ones.”
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Deadline also notes that Bad Robot and Bolton are looking to make for a diverse lead that’s not white, unlike past iterations. Matt Ryan recently played the character in the NBC series from David Goyer. The character is a British exorcist and occult detective who hunts the supernatural (this leads him to “Justice League Dark,” which has always been a more supernaturally-tinged team in the comics)
Last year’s “Constantine” rumors took a blow last year when former director Francis Lawrence said he’d gotten wind that WB was moving forward with a new “Constantine” something or other. Still, Reeves, who played the lead of his original 2005 film, wouldn’t be involved. [Deadline]
