Actor says ‘tortured’ John Constantine’s troubles are only starting. Cult favourite Constantine might finally get the long-awaited sequel as star Keanu Reeves provided an optimistic update. Reeves, who played John Constantine in the 2005 original, said in a new interview that after over a decade’s worth of attempts to get the sequel made, the film was finally ready for a script.
While Reeves had never been shy about wanting to reprise his role, it was only in September 2022 that the studio confirmed a sequel to the fantasy horror film. Based on Hellblazer comics and directed by Francis Lawrence, Constantine starred Reeves as suicide survivor and demon hunter John Constantine, entangled in a supernatural plot between angelic and demonic forces.
The original also starred Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf and Tilda Swinton but it was unclear if any were returning for the sequel. While details about the sequel were scant, Reeves admitted one thing: “tortured” John Constantine’s troubles were only starting.
Confirming that Constantine 2 would be set in the “same world” as the original, Reeves added: “We’re not going off that. John Constantine’s going to be tortured even more.”. Reeves had made no secret of his desire to make the sequel and even admitted in 2023 that he had to fight hard for Warner Bros to greenlight it.
“I kept asking almost every year. I was like, ‘Can I please have some more?’” Reeves told Total Film. “I kept asking almost every year. I’d be like, ‘Can I please?’ They’d be like, ‘No, no!’. “I don’t know if it was unfinished business, but it was definitely a role that I loved, and I thought that Francis Lawrence, the director, did such amazing work. I loved playing that character, and I really enjoyed the film.”.
Lawrence was confirmed to direct the sequel after saying in an earlier interview that he had to be “convinced” to sign up for the project once it was clear Reeves and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman could have “control” over the character. “We finally have been sort of given the permission to go ahead and do our version of Constantine because people are always saving him to be part of some shared universe thing or some TV thing or whatever,” he said at the time.
Reeves most recently appeared in a fun cameo in the second season of dystopian Apple TV+ drama severance">Severance, where the actor voiced the cartoon version of the Lumon office building. “All I can say is that he talked about a couple of different people for that role. We always wanted it to be somebody that people have certain associations with, but also, it had to be a very warm presence,” said series creator Dan Erickson.
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