Constantine 2 Is Ready For A Script, Keanu Reeves Teases
Hell is no longer frozen over for the long-awaited sequel.
Twenty years ago, Constantine arrived in theaters to mixed reviews from critics, and downright hostility from comic book fans. The supernatural thriller starring Keanu Reeves and directed by Francis Lawrence was a huge departure from the DC Comics upon which it was based, taking the deadpan blonde British exorcist and turning him into an angsty Angeleno who looked like, well, Keanu Reeves. But over the decades, Constantine has earned a cult following because, well, it looks so dang cool. And one of its biggest supporters is Reeves himself.
Reeves has been vocal about wanting to reprise the role since 2019, but it wasn’t until 2022 that this became a reality. That’s when Warner Bros. announced that a sequel to Constantine was in the works, though we’ve had relatively few updates since, apart from more enthusiastic comments from both Reeves and director Francis Lawrence, who are both set to return. But Reeves can finally give a new update on Constantine 2: It’s ready to get written.
“We've been trying to make this film for over a decade, and we just recently put a story together and pitched it to DC Studios and they said, ‘Okay,’” Reeves tells Inverse. “So, we're going to try and write a script.”
Reeves was mum on what the story was, but confirms that the sequel is in “the same world” as the original film.
“We're not going off that,” he promises, before jokingly teasing, “John Constantine's going to be tortured even more.”
Keanu Reeves on the set of Constantine with Francis Lawrence.
It’s not totally surprising that it’s taking so long to return to the world of Constantine. Reeves has been busy with the John Wick franchise, recently putting the assassin to bed with 2023’s John Wick: Chapter 4, which provided a spectacular finale for the character. (Or did it?) And he’s been steadily rebooting other beloved franchises, with The Matrix: Resurrections and Bill and Ted Face the Music.
But now that he’s free of the hitman franchise that revived his career, Reeves is taking it easy, recently executive producing the Roku docuseries Visionaries, which Inverse spoke to him about. The series, which he produces and stars in alongside his ARCH Motorcycle co-founder Gard Hollinger, highlights technological innovations that are pushing boundaries and “changing the world.”
“We look to inspire the viewer on this journey of investigating and asking about their creativity,” Reeves says of Visionaries. “Where did it come from? And through that, exploring their personal relationship to whether the art or the tech or the craft that they do. We really hope through this investigation and time spent with our visionaries that we can inspire.”
