John Constantine, the prickly, chain-smoking, profanity-hurling master of the occult, is a hard mortal to kill. The demons, witches, princes of hell, and other denizens of darkness have tried to either slay him or seduce him to their side, to no avail. 'Hellblazer,' the aptly named horror comic book series that he headlined, has faced its fair share of critics and worrywarts who had protested the character's amoral attitude and his cavalier attitude towards his combat against armies of evil. Still, the title enjoyed a 20-year run from 1993 to 2013 that saw it reap critical acclaim and gathered a following of intensely loyal fans.
And now again, a few scant months after his series - simply titled 'Constantine - was canceled, his TV incarnation just might be facing a resurrection, this time as part of a motley crew of rule-breaking heroes and renegade villains known as 'Legends of Tomorrow.'
Bleeding Cool was the first to break the news, claiming reliable sources within the industry. Apparently, Constantine's coming on board the fledgling superhero team traveling through time to fight the immortal ruler Vandal Savage was part of the showrunner's strategy to change the entire cast with each season. The current lineup is an odd combination of human nuclear reactors (Firestorm), a shrinking iron man (Atom), an assassin fighting her own inner demons (Black Canary), a winged pair of alien star-crossed lovers (Hawkman and Hawkgirl), and a reformed criminal who wields a cold-blasting gun (Captain Cold). The blurring of grey lines that mixes hero and anti-hero alike easily makes Constantine a fit for the team.
'Constantine' fans had hoped for a resurrection of their favorite character after the show was nixed after only one season. And they kept on hoping after seeing Constantine's guest appearance in another DC hit superhero show, 'Arrow', even though showrunner Marc Guggenheim himself said in a report filed by Melty that the stint was just "a one-off."
Like their favorite anti-hero, 'Constantine' fans can be quite a persistent bunch. Digital Spy observes that the 'Save Constantine' campaign has amasssed 25,000 followers and is using Change.org to persuade independent networks like Netflix and CW to pick up the show. 'Constantine' was cancelled only after one season which had 13 episodes.
Now, if the 'Legends of Tomorrow' rumor do prove true, Constantine might find that good karma is returning his way - with a longer life on the small screen.
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