When Keanu Reeves was cast as John Constantine for the 2005 movie adaptation of the Hellblazer comics from DC/Vertigo, fans of the character cried foul becuase Reeves didn’t look the part. We aren’t talking about something like Michael Keaton or Gal Gadot having to beef up a little bit for fight scenes. No, Reeves didn’t look like John Constantine becuase he wasn’t blond. Or British. When the photos from the film eventually came out, the filmmakers had even changed his trademark dingy brown raincoat into something more sleek and black, giving off a bit of a The Matrix vibe.
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While most moviegoers didn’t know who John Constantine was, and many comics fans would later admit that the movie was good even if it didn’t really feel like it was John Constantine at all, there has always been a vocal segment of the fandom who have been upset with the changes to John’s look. And during today’s Comic-Con @ Home reunion panel, filmmakers said that there was never any conversation about trying to make Reeves look and sound more like the comics version of the character.
“We never talked about it,” admitted director Francis Lawrence. “I remember in costumes too the one other sort of big change for he Constantine characters was the coat. And we did try the Constantine coat and ended up with the black one…We wanted to do what was right for what we were doing.”
Even before the fuller explanation came in, though, Reeves immediately cut the interview question off with a pre-emptive and comical NOPE. The actor had, though, said that he had wondered whether he was right for the part because after reading the comics he realized he didn’t resemble John at all.
Unfortunately for fans who heard sequel rumors online and tuned in to see if there would be an announcement, no such thing happened — althoguh they did admit that they are always still asked about it by fans, and Goldsman said that they had so many ideas over the years that they could start one “tomorrow” if given the green light.
The next DC film will be Wonder Woman 1984, which will be in theaters on October 2. Reeves will next be seen in Bill & Ted Face the Music, which is currently slated for a late August release. Fans can get more details on both this month, with Wonder Woman 1984 having a presentation at DC’s FanDome virtual convention while Comic Con International’s Comic-Con@Home event will feature Bill & Ted Face the Music.
