‘Joker’: Heroes Who Deserve the Elseworld Treatment
John Constantine
John Constantine is currently on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow where Matt Ryan is portraying him. He’s been playing the character ever since his short-lived NBC series and before him, Keanu Reeves portrayed Constantine in a movie adaptation.
The version of Constantine I’m proposing is more grounded while still keeping the essentials of the character. He’s a twisted con-artist but he also lacks faith in himself and drowns his sorrows at the bottom of a bottle.
The premise of the movie is Constantine dealing with a past failure by locking himself in a Psychiatric Hospital and binge drinking. Nightmares of his past failures plague him and it’s through the drink he tries to drown it. His old life comes calling when a former flame in the guise of Zatanna arrives.
She’s needing his help with an investigation that connects to his past failure. It pits Constantine and Zatanna against the demon Nergal while also trying to save the soul of Astra Logue. Much like Doctor Sleep, this movie’s central theme is on alcoholism and overcoming your past.
He isn’t just fighting for the soul of Astra, but also for his own. Zatanna provides the common sense and takes him through his other past failures, including their relationship. None of them stopped him so this one shouldn’t either. She’s also tracking Nergal because he’s taking more children to Hell.
It ends with Zatanna distracting Nergal while Constantine travels to Hell to free the souls of Astra and the other children. While in Hell, he fights with nightmares of his past and has to overcome them to go on.
If done right, the movie is an exploration of alcoholism and regaining your self-confidence. It introduces the general audience to Zatanna, making her fresh in their minds. She’ll also hold her own against Constantine and the other demons while providing a romantic angle that she controls.
Constantine remembers who is he through Zatanna and returns to his life of Demonology. Meanwhile, Zatanna returns to a tower full of other magic users. The revelation in the scene is that Dr. Fate sent her to Constantine’s aid.
It’s hard to envision anyone other than Matt Ryan play John Constantine and yet it’ll need to be. Star power is a factor for this movie, especially since the last live-action Constantine movie starred Keanu Reeves.
It needs an actor who can be sly, manipulative and not the most likable but still makes the audience love him. For that, I’ll put James McAvoy in the ring. His roles in Split, Glass, and Filth shows his range and that he can pull off a tortured and tormented soul like John Constantine.
Zatanna is a character I’ve wanted to see in live-action for years. Since she’s never been on the big screen before, her casting needs to be right. In the past, I’ve thought of Alexandra Daddario for the role, and I still like her as an idea.
However, I’m also partial to seeing Ana De Armas in the role. I feel both actresses can bring different qualities to the role. Since this version of Constantine doesn’t connect to the larger universe, it might work better to use Ana De Armas as her star power is already soaring after Knives Out.
