The DC Universe has a ton of great characters, from global icons like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, to deeper cuts like Aztek and Wildfire. Unfortunately, Warner Bros. tends to give the majority of its focus to its “Trinity,” especially when it comes to video games. According to a new report from Bloomberg, a game featuring John Constantine was pitched at WB Games, but the idea was shot down. Further details are limited at this time, but fans hoping to see the character get his own game again are out of luck.
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A video game centered around John Constantine might sound unusual, but it would have given Warner Bros. a chance to do something really different with one of its DC properties. In terms of tone, the Hellblazer comics are quite different from those focused on DC’s Trinity, or the other heroes from the traditional Justice League (Constantine has been a member of Justice League Dark). A single-player game where Constantine is tasked with exorcising demons could have been exciting and different, and introduced the character to audiences that have never read a comic, or saw the character in Legends of Tomorrow.
While Warner Bros. turned down the Constantine pitch, the character did get a big push back in 2005. Following the release of the movie (which featured Keanu Reeves in the lead role), a Constantine video game was released on Xbox, PS2, and PC. That’s the final time we saw John Constantine as the main character in a video game, though he has made some minor appearances in other titles over the years.
Bloomberg’s reporting on the Constantine game was part of a larger story centered on problems at the video game division of Warner Bros. Following the failures of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and MultiVersus, there’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding the future, and there aren’t a lot of major games in the immediate pipeline. Those that are in development also seem to be far away, such as the Wonder Woman game from Monolith, which was announced in 2021 before completely disappearing. Rocksteady also seems to have shifted its plans back to Batman, which is great news for fans of the Arkham franchise, but it doesn’t sound like we’ll actually get to play it for several years.
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Hopefully WB Games can turn things around, and give DC fans some truly great gaming experiences in the future. With the vault of characters the company owns, it’s a shame things aren’t in a better place right now, and that we keep learning about projects that were pitched and rejected, or started and scrapped. At the very least, reports about the death of MultiVersus suggest that we could start to see more DC collaborations with games like Fortnite, so at least that’s something to look forward to!
Would you have played a Constantine video game? Do you think WB Games can start to turn things around? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!
