John Constantine Was a Question on Jeopardy! Last Night

By Russ Burlingame

Last night on Jeopardy!, DC fans were excited to see that John Constantine and DC's Legends of Tomorrow got name-dropped...even if none of the contestants had any idea what the show was driving at. A clue on the March 30th episode of the long-running quiz show was "On film, Keanu Reeves was this arcane artist that Matt Ryan played on DC's Legends of Tomorrow." The question they were looking for: Who is John Constantine? Prior to the character's arrival in the Arrowverse, Reeves played John Constantine in a 2005 movie, which was a box office disappointment but has since become a cult classic.

Matt Ryan originated the role on an NBC show (which, like the Reeves film, was called simply Constantine) in 2014. Shortly after the series was cancelled, he made an appearance on Arrow, which set up the character ultimately moving to Legends of Tomorrow. 

A self-proclaimed "nasty piece of work," John stayed with the Legends for a few years, but ultimately became more of a danger to the team than an asset in season six, when he lost his magic and became obsessed with gaining it back. At the end of that season, Constantine left the team and the show (although Ryan stuck around, taking on the role of Dr. Gwyn Davies, the inventor of time travel, in the seventh season).

You can see an image of the clue below, via Twitter.

Constantine may have left Legends, but the character won't stay gone for long. Besides one of his ancestors being part of Netflix's The Sandman, John himself will reportedly appear in planned Justice League Dark projects from producer JJ Abrams on HBO Max. That version of John will supposedly be recast, with an eye toward possibly bringing an actor of color on board. Ryan will once again voice the character in an upcoming animated anthology called Constantine: The House of Mystery.

While Ryan has said that he is satisfied with the journey his version of Constantine took between 2014 and 2021, Keanu Reeves has repeatedly said that he would like to have another chance with the character. 

"I would love to play John Constantine from the Constantine [movie.] I've tried," Reeves told Stephen Colbert in 2021. He has made numerous similar comments over the years.

DC's Legends of Tomorrow, meanwhile, awaits a season eight renewal. The seventh season ended on a cliffhanger, with the team being arrested for crimes against the timestream and Donald Faison's Booster Gold joining and then immediately betraying the team.

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