Could We See An Animated Constantine Series Like Vixen?

With Constantine's first (and only) season currently streaming on CW Seed, many fans and even some reporters who cover film and TV have wondered whether a second season might be making its way to The CW, where it would join Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, and DC's Legends of Tomorrow.

Given the show's budgetary constraints and the fact that its Emmy-nominated set design crew are currently busy working on Preacher, though, it seems like it would be difficult to put together a version of the show that's comparable to what fans fell in love with on NBC.

So...what could they do?

One option could be right in front of our noses.

Last year, CW Seed debuted Vixen, an animated series composed of short episodes that could be combined into a single episode the length of a short movie. The story was set in the world of Arrow and The Flash, featuring characters from that shows in animated form. Megalyn Echikunwoke, who played the role in the animted series, brought her character to life in live-action on one of the best-received episodes of Arrow's fourth season, prompting fans to ask for more.

The producers' response was unexpected: Vixen will be a recurring character on the second season of Legends of Tomorrow...but it won't be the modern-day version of the character as played by Megalyn Echikunwoke. Instead, Maisie Richardson-Sellers will play a Vixen from another time -- presumably one of Mari McCabe's ancestors.

The explanation given was in part that the hugely-in-demand Echikunwoke couldn't commit to the amount of work that would likely be demanded for the season...but her crazy schedule didn't prevent her from staying on as the series lead for a second season of the Vixen animated series.

Could Matt Ryan's John Constantine be headed for a similar fate?

Certainly, Ryan's episode of Arrow was another of the better-received episodes in an up-and-down Season Four. With his show now on CW Seed and Ryan (like Echikunwoke) fairly in-demand for other projects, it would not only be a fairly logical move to try and bring John Con to CW Seed...but doing so would bring a committed and rabid fan base to the streaming channel, very much like what the network did when they greenlit the Veronica Mars spinoff Play it Again, Dick.

There's nothing, really, to suggest that Constantine might be getting an animated second season...but there's also nothing to indicate that the series will be coming back in live action, and plenty of people have speculated about that. Given how expensive it was at NBC, and how long it's now been gone, the most likely scenario might in fact be the animated route, where they can have short, inexpensive episodes and a fairly flexible schedule for recording the voice talent.

Constantine is currently streaming on CW Seed for free, or available to purchase on digital services like Amazon and Vudu.