John Constantine just refuses to be confined to hell (A.K.A. the place where TV characters who have had their shows canceled go to die). In case you didn’t know, Constantine was a show on NBC that only ran for one season due to poor ratings, but developed a sort of cult following. That strong fan base of the DC Comics character allowed Matt Ryan, who plays the demonologist, to continue playing him in other shows, and even a DC animated movie, Justice League Dark. After playing the character on an Arrow season four episode on the CW, and a couple of episodes in this season of Legends of Tomorrow, Constantine finally has his own series again, only this time it’s animated.
Matt Ryan as Constantine with Caity Lotz as Sara Lance on Legends of Tomorrow. Photo courtesy of Variety
CW SEED, the CW’s free streaming service, has made Constantine into one of their short animated series. And when I say short, I mean short. There are only five episodes of about five minutes each, and yet somehow, the show still manages to dig into the psychology and background of the character. Without giving too much away, the show portrays Constantine as he tries to save the life of his best friend’s daughter from the demon that has kidnapped her soul. Through flashbacks, we also get to see how Constantine became his current loner, demon hunter self. Once a naive, rocker musician, who merely dabbled in the occult, Constantine tried to save another little girl, and the consequences of that event haunts him to this day.
Matt Ryan is consistently strong voicing the role, as he fully embodies the character and all of its quirks. The only downside of the series is that the season ends just as the plot really heats up. This demon has darker aspirations than just feasting on the soul of an innocent girl, and more sinister plans for Constantine. As the series has only been out since March 24th, we may have to wait a while until we hear whether the show will be renewed, but I’m not worried. This animated version of the show gets a lot of things right that were botched in the original live-action NBC series, proving once again that the CW knows how to handle their comics properties.
Animated and live-action versions of Constantine. Photo courtesy of Comic Book.
If you can’t wait long enough for season two to experience more Constantine, you have nothing to worry about. Deadline has reported that the character will return to guest star in the Legends season finale, and will go on to be a series regular on the fourth season of the show, which is expected to get renewed due to its popularity, such that a lot of people are starting to call it the best of the CW’s DC shows.
In the meantime, if you have a free half hour, sit down and watch the CW’s Constantine: City of Demons. You won’t regret it.
Matt Ryan as John Constantine. Photo courtesy of Syfy.
