Hell’s Redemption Tour: Keanu Reeves’ ‘Constantine 2’ Rises From the Ashes
Picture this: a rain-slicked alleyway in London, the air thick with cigarette smoke and the metallic tang of impending doom. A trench-coated figure strides past flickering streetlights, his face etched with the kind of existential exhaustion only Keanu Reeves can sell. It’s 2005, and Constantine—a film as divisive as a tarot card reading at a Baptist sermon—hits screens. Critics sneered. Fans clung like ivy. Now, nearly two decades later, that same figure is back, dragging DC Studios into the inferno with him.
The Pitch That (Finally) Sold Hell
Let’s be honest: Constantine wasn’t perfect. It was a messy, moody cocktail of Catholic guilt and comic book lore, garnished with Reeves’ signature brooding. But oh, what a cocktail. When I first saw it, I remember thinking, This shouldn’t work—and yet, there was something perversely magnetic about Reeves’ chain-smoking antihero, damned to hell but too stubborn to stop fighting.
Fast-forward to 2024. Reeves, now 59 but still radiating that ageless whoa, tells Inverse he’s spent over a decade “pitching, pleading, and probably cursing” to get Constantine 2 made. Last week, DC Studios finally bit. “They said, ‘OK,’” Reeves shrugs, with the understated glee of a man who’s outlasted three DC reboots. The sequel, he confirms, will plunge John Constantine into fresh torments—because, really, what’s redemption without a little extra suffering?
Francis Lawrence’s Inferno
Director Francis Lawrence—no stranger to dystopias after The Hunger Games—sounds like a man possessed when discussing the project. “We’ve had this… thing… brewing for 20 years,” he told Collider, likening the sequel to “a curse you can’t shake.” His eyes (I imagine) glinting like hellfire, Lawrence teased “something really cool” in the works, promising deeper dives into Hellblazer’s occult underbelly.
Will it appease comic purists? Unlikely. The original film took liberties thicker than a grimoire, but its cult following—a mix of goths, Reeves stans, and insomnia sufferers—doesn’t care. This isn’t about fidelity; it’s about atmosphere. The sequel, Lawrence hints, will double down on the first film’s chiaroscuro visuals: think neon-drenched exorcisms and hellscapes that smell like burnt matches.
A Sequel Written in Smoke
Details? Scarce. But Reeves’ tease—“John Constantine’s going to be tortured even more”—suggests a plot as subtle as a sledgehammer. Imagine: our antihero, older but no wiser, chain-smoking through fresh apocalypses. Maybe a cameo from Lucifer (Tilda Swinton, anyone?). Perhaps a subplot involving cursed NFTs. Whatever happens, expect more rain, more demons, and Reeves delivering lines like “I need a light” with the gravitas of Shakespeare.
Why Now?
Timing’s everything. With DC’s universe in flux post-The Flash, Constantine 2 feels like a rogue grenade tossed into the mix. It’s not connected to James Gunn’s shiny new DCU—it’s grimmer, grittier, a relic of the mid-2000s’ love affair with antiheroes. And yet, that’s its power. In an era of sanitized superheroics, Constantine’s moral murk feels almost rebellious.
The Bottom Line
Will Constantine 2 be good? God knows. But like its protagonist, it’s stubbornly, gloriously alive—a testament to Reeves’ cult-hero clout and the enduring allure of stories where salvation tastes like ash and nicotine. Grab your lighter. Hell’s waiting.
When will Constantine 2 start filming?
Still in scripting phase—no start date yet, but Reeves and team are “closer than ever” after DC’s approval.
Is Rachel Weisz returning for Constantine 2?
Unclear. Reeves teased more torment for Constantine but hasn’t mentioned co-stars yet.
How faithful is Constantine to the Hellblazer comics?
Loosely inspired. The sequel may draw more from comics’ occult lore, per director Lawrence.
