Constantine (TV series)

Constantine is an American television series developed by Daniel Cerone and David S. Goyer for NBC, based on characters appearing in the comic series Hellblazer published by DC Comics under their Vertigo imprint. Matt Ryan stars as John Constantine. The series premiered on October 24, 2014.

Premise
Petty dabbler of the occult John Constantine, a man struggling with his past sins, tries to protect humanity from a gathering supernatural threat.

Main cast

 * Matt Ryan as John Constantine: Enigmatic and irreverent, formerly a con man, now a reluctant Supernatural detective.
 * Angélica Celaya as Zed Martin (4 episodes): A Psychic artist who finds Constantine intriguing enough to follow him on his exorcisms.
 * Charles Halford as Chas Chandler (4 episodes): Constantine’s oldest friend and staunch companion who possesses powerful survival skills.
 * Harold Perrineau as Manny (3 episodes): An authoritative angel assigned to watch over Constantine.

Recurring and guest cast

 * Michael James Shaw as voodoo king Papa Midnite (2 episodes)
 * Lucy Griffiths as Liv Aberdine (1 episode)
 * Jeremy Davies as Ritchie Simpson (1 episode)
 * Bailey Tippen as Astra Logue (1 episode)
 * Jonjo O'Neill as Gary "Gaz" Lester (1 episode)
 * Charles Parnell as Nommo (1 episode)
 * Emmett J. Scanlan as Jim Corrigan (1 episode)

Production
The series was developed by Daniel Cerone and David S. Goyer, with the pilot episode directed by Neil Marshall. The show remains more faithful to the source material than the 2005 film, although on-screen depiction of Constantine's chain smoking habit will be absent due to broadcast television restrictions. Additionally, the character's bisexuality will not be referenced on screen, with Cerone saying, "In those comic books, John Constantine aged in real time. Within this tome of three decades [of comics] there might have been one or two issues where he’s seen getting out of bed with a man. So [maybe] 20 years from now? But there are no immediate plans." This was met with criticism from the LGBTQ community.

Griffiths was originally cast as the female lead Liv Aberdine, the daughter of a late friend of John's called Jasper Winters, who comes to discover that she has the ability of seeing the supernatural world among us. She teams up with Constantine to fight the demons who have targeted her and learn more about her late father. Griffiths was dropped after Goyer and Cerone decided to take the series in a different creative direction. The comic character Zed was chosen as a replacement for the female lead. Angélica Celaya was later announced to fill the role. Some of Griffiths' final scenes from the pilot were reshot, explaining why she does not join Constantine in his adventures as originally intended. Both Goyer and Cerone have talked about a possible return for Liv. In November 2014, NBC announced that they would not be ordering more episodes past the initial order of 13 for the first season. The series still has a possibility to be renewed for a second season.

Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 72% critic approval rating with an average rating of 6.2/10 based on 46 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "Constantine's creepy atmosphere, high-stakes action, and splendid special effects combine with a welcome touch of humor to overcome narrative flaws and present a version of the title character that's close to his comics counterpart." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 53 out of 100 based on 25 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".