Constantine (TV series)

Did You Know?

• The series aired simultaneously on Global in Canada.
• The complete series was released on Blu-ray, DVD and digitally on October 4, 2016 by the Warner Archive Collection.

Cast and characters

Matt Ryan stars as John Constantine, a former con man who is now an enigmatic and irreverent supernatural detective, though he takes the job reluctantly. Lucy Griffiths played Liv Aberdine in the pilot, but the character was removed from the series after that episode. Angélica Celaya portrays Mary "Zed" Martin, a psychic artist intrigued enough by Constantine to join his exorcisms. Charles Halford is Francis "Chas" Chandler, Constantine's loyal oldest friend with strong survival abilities. Harold Perrineau plays Manny, a commanding angel tasked with overseeing Constantine.

Production

Daniel Cerone and David S. Goyer developed the series, with Neil Marshall directing the pilot. Broadcast television restrictions initially curtailed the on-screen depiction of Constantine's chain-smoking habit, though the network later became more lenient and he is shown smoking in later episodes. The character's bisexuality was not referenced on screen; Cerone stated that in the comics, Constantine aged in real time and there might have been one or two issues where he was seen getting out of bed with a man, but there were no immediate plans to address it, drawing criticism from the LGBTQA+ community. Lucy Griffiths was originally cast as Liv Aberdine, the daughter of a late friend of John's named Jasper Winters, who discovers she can see the supernatural world and teams up with Constantine. After Goyer and Cerone decided to take the series in a different creative direction, Griffiths was dropped and the comic character Zed was chosen as a replacement, with Angélica Celaya announced in the role. Some of Griffiths' final scenes from the pilot were reshot to explain why she does not join Constantine.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes reported a 72% critic approval rating with an average rating of 6.2/10 based on 46 reviews, with the consensus stating that the show's creepy atmosphere, high-stakes action, and splendid special effects combine with a welcome touch of humor to overcome narrative flaws and present a version of the title character close to his comics counterpart. Metacritic assigned a score of 53 out of 100 based on 25 reviews, indicating mixed or average reviews. Kylie Peters of Den of Geek said the pilot was worth sticking around for and not half bad. Matt Fowler of IGN gave the pilot a 7.5/10, praising Matt Ryan's performance but criticizing the pacing; reviewing the full season, he praised Ryan's performance, described the season as engaging, and commended adaptations of arcs from the comics, but criticized episode shifting and team members randomly disappearing, ultimately calling the season uneven and awarding it a 7.2/10. Jonathan Bernstein of The Daily Telegraph gave the pilot 2 stars out of 5, calling it an endurance test, criticizing Lucy Griffiths' performance, but praising Ryan for bringing a certain gravelly charm to the role. The premiere episode received an additional 2.90 million viewers from DVR viewing, for a total of 7.14 million viewers.

Spin-offs and related shows

DC Entertainment released a clay stop motion animation web series called John Con Noir, developed by Cool Town Creations to support the petition for the television series to be renewed for a second season. The first chapter was released on January 16, 2015 on the DC Comics official website and YouTube account, in addition to the mid-season premiere on NBC. In May 2015, Stephen Amell, who portrays Oliver Queen / Green Arrow on The CW's Arrow, revealed discussions with DC Entertainment to portray the character on the show, with the idea that Constantine is an expert on the Lazarus Pit, a part of Arrow. Arrow showrunner Marc Guggenheim expressed a desire to integrate Constantine into the Arrow universe, noting that the fate of Constantine was the tricky piece. In July 2015, additional Arrow showrunner Wendy Mericle added that they really wanted to include Constantine, were talking to DC about it, and were optimistic but not 100 percent certain, presumably referring to Matt Ryan's schedule.