Constantine Goes To NBC

[Caleb]

NBC just announced plans for a John Constantine / Hellblazer TV show. No cast yet, but it's from one of the guys who created The Mentalist and - SARCASTIC GASP! - David S. Goyer. I mean, no judgment on the quality of the show yet, since I doubt they even have a pilot script done...but DC does know that there are, like, thousands of other screenwriters in Hollywood?

Anybody else got any thoughts on this?

At least it's not going to the CW, I suppose, so they can have a Non-Gap-Model John Constantine!

[AcidDragon]

Holy crap, you're kidding me! That can potentially be so many degrees of awesome, I don't even know what to say at this point. I re-read a lot of the first issues a little while ago... Man this would make SUCH an awesome TV show and I wouldn't even mind a bit of monster/demon/curse/strange event of the week element as that's basically what a lot of the Constantine material was. Oooh and they could have cameos with Zatanna, Zatara, Swamp Thing, Doctor Fate, Detective Chimp, Etrigan the Demon, Deadman, Phantom Stranger, etc. The list goes on. They could do the fateful seance storyline

Spoiler:

with Zatara and Sargon where they meet their untimely demises.

!!!

[packerbacker180]

"Woah!"

[Caleb]

Yeah, it's definitely got some great possibilities. Kind of like Grimm or The X-Files, where they bounce willy-nilly between freak-of-the-week and overall mythology episodes. Plus, you're absolutely right...they can bring in characters like Zatanna, Madame Xanadu, Etrigan, Swampy, Felix Faust, or even Morpheus. It's gonna depend, for me, on who they cast as Constantine, but I'm guessing that - since it's not going to the CW - we won't have to worry about a "Sexy Constantine" showing up. Too bad Johnny Lee Miller is busy playing Holmes over on CBS, though, because I think he'd be perfect - well, given blonde hair, that is.

I kind of wonder what this means for GDT's The Dark script, or whatever the heck it was called. I'm assuming, like many of Del Toro's projects, that film has been shelved for the foreseeable future. Ah well. Comics work better on the small screen anyway, since a 24-episode season allows for much more expansive world-building than a two-hour motion picture. And Constantine is definitely interesting enough to warrant a couple seasons.

[AcidDragon]

Whoever they cast needs to be a not so good looking English guy. Can you imagine the soundtracks they can do, too, though? I'd be all for some good ol' classic British rock music from across the pond and some Bowie, too. I hope, I hope that it takes place or at least begins in England. That was a huge thing for me in the comics. A lot of the issues had a lot of imagery that when you looked at the panels, there was no question what era the comic took place in. I loved it.

[S. Griffin]

As a long time reader of ALMOST all things John Constantine, I have a kinda bad feeling about this. I want to be optimistic, but I'm dreading a very PG tv show about a PG-13-R rated character who will not be smoking cigarettes. I fear NBC telling Goyer what he can and cannot do a lot.
I really think this show would get a better shot on Starz or HBO or AMC or something.

[packerbacker180]

Goyer is promising, but NBC is not. I'd feel better if it were on Showtime, HBO, FX or even Fox.

[Crazy Jetty]

I find it kind of odd that NBC wanted this, given they already have their horror/scifi/fantasy darling, Grimm, which is pretty much a very simular concept that's in the same genre.

That said, Acid mentioend to me this morning that David Tennent would be a brilliant casting choice, and I agree.

[packerbacker180]

I actually almost mentioned Tenant but think its too unlikely. But who knows. He was stellar in Broadchurch. Or maybe even Arthur Darvill, but he might be too young looking.

[AcidDragon]

Yeah I think Tennant with a bit of gritty make-up work would be a fantastic choice. He has the right look and great acting diversity!