There’s a Rumor That J. J. Abrams is Developing a Constantine Series for HBO Max

It feels bound to happen at some point that Constantine will break out of being a guest star and will take on his own project once again and HBO Max feels like the place to do it since there’s already so much happening at the streaming site already. One thing that’s slightly irritating, solely based on this new idea of diversity being the overriding rule that many want to push, is that the role of Constantine in this project might be going to a BIPOC, which isn’t horrible news but is worth an eye roll since the fact is that Constantine’s appearance has been fairly standard since the character was created. As a young man born in Liverpool, England, he hasn’t really changed in all that time and thinking to do so now is a sign of the times since diversity is quickly becoming a reason to switch up the source material and try to pander to fans that are calling for an overhaul of certain properties that would likely be best kept as they are. But if such a thing does happen, if Constantine is cast as a person of color or other race, then so be it, people will move forward and some will have an opinion that might not be popular but will make some bit of sense considering that keeping things as they were according to the source material is sometimes a little better for the overall story.

To date, Constantine has been a character that has apparently been seen as more useful as a guest star, even if he’s been given his own short-lived series that didn’t really go anywhere. This would appear to be another attempt to create something that might kickstart the idea once again and possibly get the warlock on his way once more. The idea is that this series will be even darker than anyone has seen Constantine go before, with less emphasis on religion and more on the dark arts that he’ll be using to keep things on earth as copacetic as they can be. Anyone that’s ever read Constantine knows very well that he’s not exactly free of controversy and that as a hero he’s something of a quandary since he’s not squeaky clean, but he’s not a villain so it’s fair to say that giving him his own show is going to be intriguing but definitely not boring. Over the years when Constantine has entered the conversation it’s typically been with a few groans since a lot of people still feel that the Keanu Reeves movie that depicted him as the titular character kind of missed the mark and didn’t go deep enough into Constantine’s lore, but there is a rumor that a second movie might be on the way eventually and that fans could see a resurgence, meaning that Constantine could be getting the attention he needs to become a very real presence on the movie scene once again.

Changing up Constantine’s racial aspects isn’t making sense to a lot of people however which is comforting simply because it’s arguing for the integrity of the character and not pushing an ‘all-white’ agenda which would be ridiculous since there are people of color and different cultures in Constantine’s history. The argument is one that simply states that changing up a character that’s been seen in one way for so long is hard to take since in the estimation of some folks this would be like placing a white man in the role of the Black Panther over in Marvel, it just wouldn’t make as much sense considering that Constantine has been seen in his current form for so long. There might be a story out there to explain this switch and it’s definitely possible, but Abrams’ attempt to switch Constantine’s race is bound to cause at least a bit of a stir and make some folks wonder just why this would be necessary. In any case, that’s a discussion best left to another article. As of now, it does sound as though we could be seeing Constantine return in some form to keep up the good fight, but the idea of getting even darker and leaving religion behind, or at least in the shadows, is another switch that fans might actually enjoy, or could have something to say about.

Change is actually necessary from time to time and can be a very good thing when it comes to various characters. But the caveat, one of the most important factors, in fact, is that changing something, or someone, so drastically is bound to provoke some sort of backlash. In this case, it might not be a big deal, but it’s fair to say that changing up Constantine too much might prove to be an ill-advised mistake that didn’t need to be made.