Keanu Reeves-Led Constantine Sequel Is Still Happening Despite DC Universe Slate Changes

Fans who have been clamoring for the return of Keanu Reeves as Constantine can take a deep breath of relief because the sequel announced last fall has not been canned in the wake of James Gunn and Peter Safran's new plans for the DC Universe. Reeves first played the character of John Constantine in the 2005 cult-hit "Constantine" from director Francis Lawrence. In the years that followed, Reeves' star only got hotter, and Lawrence went on to direct hugely successful projects like "I Am Legend" and the latter three films in "The Hunger Games" series.

The Constantine character has been played multiple times across a variety of mediums over the years, and plenty of folks have a soft spot for Reeves' take. However, after big changes like Henry Cavill not returning as Superman and the scrapping of the already-completed "Batgirl" film, the fate of the future of "Constantine 2" looked grim. Fortunately, Warner Bros. has confirmed with Entertainment Weekly that the film is still happening, and won't be deterred by the DC Universe slate. "A spokesperson for Warner Bros. confirmed to EW that Constantine 2 is not scrapped," wrote EW's Nick Romano. "Internet chatter going around social media suggested it had been."

It's likely that "Constantine 2" will fall somewhere under the DC Elseworlds umbrella, where non-canon DC Universe films like Todd Phillips' "Joker: Folie à Deux" and Matt Reeves' "The Batman: Part II" will exist. That is, of course, unless Gunn and Safran have something else planned that has yet to be made public.

The Constantine character was made popular by Alan Moore and Stephen R. Bissette for the "Hellblazer" comics, under DC's Vertigo banner. /Film's own Danielle Ryan wrote extensively about how characters from Vertigo could fit into the DC Universe slate, especially considering that Swamp Thing is getting his own feature. The 2005 "Constantine" film has never really fit within the canon of DC superhero movies, so anything different would be a first. Then again, James Gunn and Peter Safran said there would be more projects to be announced for their initial "Gods and Monsters" chapter of the DC Universe, so maybe we'll be surprised.

Regardless of where "Constantine 2" fits in the new DC lineup, it's a relief to know such a highly-anticipated project is not going away. Keanu Reeves is just as popular now (if not more so) than he was in 2005 thanks to the "John Wick" series, so an older, grittier version of John Constantine is like a fan-fic pitch come to life. "Constantine" may not have been the most comic-book-accurate interpretation of the character, but watching Reeves banish demons to hell was too fun to ignore. There's still no anticipated release date for "Constantine 2," but we'll be eagerly awaiting updates as they are made available.