For a long time, the prospect of a Constantine sequel felt like a flickering candle, especially with the rise of James Gunn's new DC Universe. Many fans simply assumed the project would be snuffed out.
However, a glimmer of hope appeared in February 2023, with confirmation that the sequel was, surprisingly, still moving forward. More recently, in September 2024, a script was reportedly turned in, developed by none other than Keanu Reeves himself and original director Francis Lawrence. According to the latest intel, Akiva Goldsman was the last writer to refine that script.
But since that September update, silence has fallen over the project. Now, Peter Stormare, who chillingly played Lucifer in the original 2005 film, has offered a fresh, and rather grim, assessment. Based on Stormare's recent comments, it seems the highly anticipated Constantine 2 might not be heading in a promising direction after all.
Stromare stated, "It's a lot of back and forth, because... I think Keanu [Reeves], which I know pretty good, is not so happy with the scripts and usually what comes out of the studios... Because the first one wasn't that successful in the beginning, it became a sleeper and became a cult movie, and now it is one of the biggest cult movies ever. But to do a sequel, the studios want to have, you know, cars flying in the air. They want to have people doing flip-flops and fighting action scenes."
He added, "And I think Keanu says, 'I've done 'John Wick.' This movie is spiritual. It's about demons and regular people. And I wanted to keep it that way.' And we talked about that. I want to do God coming down exactly the same way, but in a black suit and looking more or less like Lucifer from the first one. I'm 12 years older, so it's going to be hard to, you know, completely imitate the first movie. But, I think from Keanu, he wants to do a sequel that is very close to the first one."
Finally, Stromare noted that he and Keanu Reeves are both adamant about not letting the sequel take on a Marvel-style tone. They’re committed to preserving the darker, more grounded atmosphere that defined the original Constantine. "I think he wants to do his character again, Constantine, as grounded as it was in the first one. It took a long time for you to become a cult movie, it really worked, and it will work on the audience again. You don't have to add a lot of action and shootouts. You have other movies. Don't turn it into big Marvel... [Don't turn it] into us flying around in harnesses all the time and shooting each other up."
Stormare’s update is a tough blow for fans eagerly awaiting the sequel. Still, there’s hope that Keanu Reeves and director Francis Lawrence can bring the right writer on board to steer Constantine 2 in a more promising direction.