Keanu Reeves Is Not Happy With Constantine 2 (& He’s Got a Point)

Fans of Keanu Reeves’ Constantine (2005) movie have been on a rollercoaster ride of hope and disappointment and renewed hope for years now, but it finally started looking like real progress was being made on Constantine 2, at least until we got this latest update. Actor Peter Stormare also appeared in Constantine, with his brief but iconic scene as Lucifer, aka the Devil. Stormare is currently promoting his new film, Stand Your Ground, and he was asked where things stand with Constantine 2. DC fans may not want to hear it, but Stormare hints that development on the sequel may not be going as hoped.

In regards to the Constantine 2 script, Stormare tells The Direct that, “It’s a lot of back and forth, because… I think Keanu [Reeves], who I know pretty good, is not so happy with the scripts and usually what comes out of the studios…” He later stated that Reeves has a specific vision for what he wants Constantine 2 to be: “I think Keanu says, ‘I’ve done John Wick. This movie is spiritual. It’s about demons and regular people. And I wanted to keep it that way.’ And we talked about that… I think Keanu, he wants to do a sequel that is very close to the first one.”

Stormare goes on to break down how the first Constantine side-stepped the typical superhero movie formula. Director Francis Lawrence (The Hunger Games sequels and prequels) leaned deeper into the supernatural lore surrounding John Constantine, while adapting the DC comics material into his own distinct stylised world, which both fit perfectly in step with Reeves’ post-Matrix fame and carved out a new lane for the actor, as a surly, unlikable (but noble) anti-hero. Now, two decades later, Marvel and DC are major blockbuster movie franchises, and comic book movies now come with a certain level of formulaic expectations. For those who made Constantine, the idea of losing that “go against the grain” spirit in favor of a generic popcorn sequel is not the biggest sell.

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“The first one wasn’t that successful in the beginning, it became a sleeper and became a cult movie, and now it is one of the biggest cult movies ever,” Stormare explained. “But to do a sequel, the studios want to have, you know, cars flying in the air. They want to have people doing flip-flops and fighting action scenes.”

It was made clear that Stormare hasn’t seen these scripts himself, but is getting the official rundown from Keanu Reeves himself. And it seems the two actors are in sync about what they don’t want this sequel to be.

“It turns into an action movie, and not like going deeper and deeper into the characters,” Stormare continued. “I think he [Keanu] wants to do this character again, Constantine, as grounded as it was in the first one. It took a long time to become a cult movie, it really worked, and it will work on the audience again. You don’t have to add a lot of action and shootouts. You have other movies. Don’t turn it into big Marvel… [Don’t turn it] into us flying around in harnesses all the time and shooting each other up. Don’t bring in the big guns. Let it be.”

For his part, Francis Lawrence has previously stated his intention to feed the fans who have come around on his interpretation of John Constantine – and even make the R-rated film that he wanted to make originally.

“I certainly think there is a bigger fan base and certainly it’s become a kind of cult classic, which has been really exciting to see and very strange, but it’s something we’ve always loved… I’d say more than any of my other movies, Constantine has been something that I felt like was really worthy of a sequel. There is a world that you can really explore and there’s a character that we certainly loved and really wanted to explore… So we’re like, ‘F–k it, let’s go and do a sequel and really make an R-rated movie. Give us an R, let us make a real R-rated movie.’”

Constantine 2 is still reportedly in development.