It’s been half a year since NBC cancelled Constantine after only one season, but DC’s Hellblazer hasn’t disappeared entirely from the airwaves. Last week Matt Ryan reprised John Constantine for the Arrow episode “Haunted,” and his appearance resulted in a ratings boost for the CW series. Using this as a launching point, Constantine fans have renewed their efforts in seeing the show brought back by launching a new campaign.
While its time on NBC is done, there is a petition, titled “Save Constantine,” over at Change.org, imploring that Constantine return to a different channel for “closure.” The networks/platforms that are specifically being targeted include the El Rey Network (where Constantine Season 1 reruns are being shown), The CW, Netflix, Yahoo Screen, and the USA Network. Executive producer David Goyer recently remarked that Constantine may have had more success had it aired elsewhere, so fans are putting that idea to the test. At the time of this writing, the petition has gather over 30,000 supporters, and it only needs to reach 35,000 to achieve its next goal.
While their support is commendable, the chances of Constantine being resurrected without the aid of a Lazarus Pit are slim. After all, even after NBC cancelled the show, showrunner Daniel Cerone shopped the series to other networks, but no one was willing to take it. Plus, even if Matt Ryan were to clear his schedule of other projects, there’s no guarantee that they would be able to get the other main actors from Constantine to return, and the story wouldn't be the same without Chas, Zed and Manny. Don’t worry, though, some good could come out of this petition in a different way.
It’s clear that there’s still interest in seeing Constantine on TV in some capacity, and Ryan proved last week that he’s a good fit in this DC TV universe. Despite the Arrow showrunners saying that Ryan’s appearance was a “one time only deal,” they should at least reconsider bringing John Constantine back, especially after seeing those higher ratings. With magic now a heavy presence on Arrow, it would make sense to feature Constantine as a recurring player. He can pop in whenever the team is dealing with a magical threat that arrows and punching can’t solve.
If there’s no room for him on Arrow anymore, maybe there’s a way to incorporate him into The Flash or Legends of Tomorrow. Heck, maybe The CW would one day consider producing a magic-based DC series (which would fill Supernatural’s spot nicely once it eventually ends), and John Constantine would be one of the main characters. After all, progress on that Justice League Dark movie has been moving at a snail’s pace, so maybe TV is the better place to team up superheroes centered around mysticism.
We’ll have to wait and see what’s in store for John Constantine’s future in live action, but if you’re eager to see more of Ryan as the trench coat-wearing occultist, head over to the “Save Constantine” petition to show your support.
