Matt Ryan has been playing John Constantine across various different series since NBC’s short-lived Constantine TV series in 2014, but it’s possible that we’ve now seen the last of his fan-favorite incarnation of the trench coat-wearing sorcerer. Spoilers for Legends of Tomorrow incoming: last week’s penultimate episode of the time-traveling show’s sixth season killed the character off, seemingly for good.
Fans don’t need to worry about Ryan’s future on Legends, however, as he’s been confirmed to be returning as a regular for season 7, this time as a new character. Next season he’ll be playing Dr. Gwyn Davies, an eccentric scientist from the present-day who’ll join the Waverider crew. While speaking to ComicBook, Ryan revealed that he’s ready to let go of Constantine and enjoy where DC takes the character next from the point of view of a fan.
“I was always working within a certain framework with John, or trying to. Legends is a really fun, wacky show, and now I don’t have to look after John so much,” Ryan said. “So I have a lease on life there creatively, as an actor with this new character, that maybe I didn’t have with John. It was a different challenge, obviously. And as a fan, I’m so excited to see where he’s going to go now. And I can actually get excited about that, whether it’s on TV, or whether it’s in a movie, or Keanu’s playing him, or what have you. I’m just like, ‘Okay, what’s John doing?’ And I’m his biggest fan. So that is really exciting to me. Really exciting.”
So where will Constantine show up next? Well, Ryan’s clearly up to date with all the reports and rumors as he references several of the big theories in his comments. A Constantine reboot has been discussed, but a sequel to the 2005 movie starring Keanu Reeves is also under consideration. Meanwhile, J.J. Abrams’ Justice League Dark HBO Max series will no doubt feature him, too, as Constantine is usually the team’s leader. This could potentially reimagine him as a person of color, with the production reportedly looking for a “Riz Ahmed-type”.
Then there’s Netflix’s The Sandman show. Though John is a prominent character in the comics, the TV adaptation is swapping him out with his female ancestor Johanna Constantine, as played by Doctor Who‘s Jenna Coleman. This was perhaps done because so many other projects starring the Hellblazer are being developed right now.
Legends of Tomorrow‘s season 6 finale, titled “The Fungus Amongus”, airs this Sunday, September 5th on The CW.
