Fans of the Hellblazer have been waiting to see more of John Constantine in the Arrowverse for ages – and at last, this season will be their lucky year. On top of the demon hunter’s animated webseries arriving in 2018, we recently learned that Matt Ryan would be donning the character’s trench coat again in the flesh for an episode of Legends of Tomorrow.
Well, turns out we were only half right, as Constantine is on board for not just one, but multiple episodes of The CW’s time travelling superhero show. As revealed by exec producer Phil Klemmer, his first appearance on the series will be episode 10 of the upcoming season, which will air in early 2018.
Klemmer spoke with ComicBook.com recently about how Constantine’s return came about, what role he’ll play and why he’s such a great fit for the show:
“Having Matt Ryan reprise his iconic — dare we say legendary — role of John Constantine on Legends is something that [executive producer] Marc [Guggenheim] and I have been working toward since season one, and now the stars have finally aligned. While we are working to finish our 2017 Arrowverse crossover, which is no joke the most ambitious bit of network TV that four shows have ever had the audacity and insanity to endeavor, we were looking for a way to make an equally exciting 2018 return. That’s how we came up with Matt Ryan.”
“As for the character of Constantine, we knew that an alienated, chain-smoking, bisexual, world-weary demonologist would feel right at home among our Legends. His appearance in episode 310 will involve the following: a revisiting of Arrow season four and the events following that season’s finale episode, a confrontation with this season’s Big Bad on Legends, some hot sex – something that has been in short supply on the Waverider thus far in season three – and Damien Darhk (Neil McDonough), because how can you do an episode about dark magic and not have Damien Darhk?”
There are lots of juicy details to pick up on here. Firstly, Damien Darhk will be appearing once again, after his brilliant turn as part of the Legion of Doom last season. Furthermore, there will be, we quote, “some hot sex” on board the Waverider, which should get fans’ blood pumping, and a brief comment suggests that Legends of Tomorrow will explore Constantine’s bisexuality. This aspect of the character was previously ignored in his NBC solo series, so comic book fans will be pleased to see Legends tackling this.
Finally, speaking of NBC’s Constantine, Klemmer teased that the character’s appearance on Legends would be inspired by the darker, supernatural tone of that show:
“More than anything, the episode promises to be scary as you know what — tonally it’s The Exorcist meets One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. Demonic possession in a mental institution, what’s not to love?”
Though Constantine won’t be seen for a few months, Legends of Tomorrow returns tonight to The CW.