Back at the start of this year, we took a look at internet rumours that Warner Bros. was considering having Keanu Reeves return to the role of John Constantine. Now, we’re back with another slice of steaming hot gossip around the newly announced Justice League Dark TV series being helmed by Rise of Skywalker director J.J. Abrams.
So, what’s the goss?
In September last year, prolific director J.J. Abrams and his production company, Bad Robot, inked an exclusive deal with Warner Bros. Studios, and early rumours were that he may have been looking to tackle a Justice League Dark project as a key part of that deal. Earlier last month, Warner Bros. officially confirmed that Abrams would indeed be producing a Justice League Dark TV series for their new streaming platform HBO Max.
Now we all know for sure that we’re getting the series. The only question that remains is: who will play John Constantine?
Where did all this come from?
As we learnt from our earlier exploration of the Keanu rumours, a live-action Justice League Dark adaptation has been in the development pipeline for quite some time over at Warner Bros., with Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro previously completing a feature film script as early as 2013. Like so much else in the DC cinematic universe, however, those plans continued to chop and change until last month’s official announcement that J.J. Abrams would now be helming the new television series.
Of course, about a nanosecond after that news hit the web, DC fans started asking whether this new series would recast the supernatural team’s lead characters, or whether they would seek to include the actors who had already put their stamps on the roles. Namely, the main question was would Abrams include Derek Mears’ Swamp Thing from the cancelled but critically acclaimed DC Universe series? And, more importantly, would Matt Ryan – who played Constantine in live-action since 2014 and lent his voice to the Justice League Dark animated outing – also make his way to the new TV series currently in development?
Official news at this stage is slim and little else has been announced, apart from Abrams’ involvement as producer. Some rumours indicate that Abrams and Warner Bros. may potentially be looking to poach Stranger Things’ the Duffer brothers from Netflix to serve as the series’ directors and showrunners, which would be a major coup, if true. Again, there is little official news to back this, or any other rumours, up.
What’s the verdict?
After we fed the Supanova Scuttlebutt-o-meter©®™ (Patent Pending) with the relevant details, it mumbled something offensive under its breath and gave us its best Constantine-like scowl. After we stole its trench coat and told it that it wouldn’t get it back until it gave us a number, it finally spat out a 26.94% likelihood of Ryan returning.
Whilst the Supanova Scuttlebutt-o-meter©®™ (Patent Pending) loves Supa-Star alumnus Matt Ryan, there seems to be little indication that this new series will connect in any way with The CW Arrowverse in which Ryan currently plays Constantine in Legends of Tomorrow. Of course, it is entirely possible this could be explained through means of an alternate universe, but it seems more likely that we’ll see another actor cast in the role to avoid any potential confusion.
It’s probably better to declare this rumour: a long shot, at best.
What the Supanova Scuttlebutt-o-meter©®™ (Patent Pending) really wants to know next is: who is J.J. Abrams going to pick to play Zatanna?
