Summary
- Keanu Reeves and Matt Ryan portrayed different versions of John Constantine, with Reeves in the 2005 movie and Ryan in the Arrowverse.
- Reeves’s Constantine was a lone demon hunter, while Ryan’s Constantine became a key member of the Legends of Tomorrow team.
- Reeves’s Constantine is American, which was a departure from the character’s traditional British portrayal, while Ryan’s Constantine kept the character’s signature cockney accent.
Keanu Reeves and Matt Ryan have each embodied two very different versions of John Constantine. In the DC Universe, John Constantine is known as a chain-smoking demon hunter with supernatural abilities, which was seen in both Reeves’s and Ryan’s incarnations of the character. However, the respective introductions of Reeves and Matt Ryan’s two Constantines also put each on his own distinct path in his corner of DC’s movie and TV multiverse.
Keanu Reeves’s Constantine is set to return was first introduced in the eponymous 2005 movie (with the Constantine film arguably arriving a decade too early), while Matt Ryan became well-known for his affiliation with the Legends of Tomorrow in the Arrowverse timeline. Inherently, the divergent formats of movies and TV would always make Reeves and Ryan’s Constantine’s somewhat different, but that was just the beginning of how they came to be individualized versions of the character. Here are the 10 biggest differences between Keanu Reeves and Matt Ryan’s versions of John Constantine.
|
Constantine |
Constantine |
|
|---|---|---|
|
Actor |
Keanu Reeves |
Matt Ryan |
|
Appearances |
Constantine (2005) |
Legends of Tomorrow (S3-6), Arrow (S4), Constantine (2014), Crisis on Infinite Earths (2019) |
|
Superpowers |
Pyromancy, True Sight, Occult Knowledge |
Master of Occult Magic, Occult Knowledge |
|
Team Affiliation |
None |
Newcastle Crew & Legends |
|
Adaptation |
Very loosely based on the original |
A more faithful adaptation |
|
Enemies |
Gabriel & Lucifer |
Various |
|
Future |
Constantine 2 |
None |
10 Matt Ryan’s John Constantine Joined A Team
Following the cancelation of his short-lived solo series, Matt Ryan’s Constantine made the jump to the Arrowverse, with the notable change of John Constantine becoming a key member of the Legends of Tomorrow. After serving as a recurring character on Legends of Tomorrow, Ryan’s Constantine later became a series regular from seasons four through six (with Matt Ryan playing a new character in Legends of Tomorrow season 7.) Meanwhile, Keanu Reeves’s Constantine was essentially a one-man operation, aside from his partnership with Rachel Weisz’s Angela Dodson.
9 Matt Ryan’s John Constantine Time Traveled
Time-travel was part-and-parcel for the Legends of Tomorrow, and Matt Ryan’s Constantine was never reluctant to join them for a ride through time. Throughout his role on Legends of Tomorrow, Ryan’s Constantine visited many historical eras and locations, often meeting famous historical figures as part of his and the Legends’s time jumps. By contrast, Keanu Reeves’s Constantine fought demons strictly in modern day.
8 Keanu Reeves’s Constantine Is American
Arguably the biggest change Constantine made to the character was in having Keanu Reeves portray him as an American. This was a huge retcon for arguably the most famous cockney hero in all of comic book lore, with Matt Ryan’s John Constantine retaining the character’s signature cockney accent. Though Constantine reworked other aspects of the character to varying degrees, his American accent in the film truly made him one-of-a-kind in Keanu Reeves’s portrayal of him.
7 Keanu Reeves’s Constantine Is A More Embittered Man
Keanu Reeves portrayed John Constantine as a man with huge chip on his shoulder. In Constantine, John regarded his ability to see demons as a curse, and came to see God as “a kid with an ant-farm.” Reeves’s Constantine was also bitter in the knowledge that he was headed for Hell upon his death, trying to bribe his way into heaven by capturing demons but never seeking or wanting any real reconciliation with God until the very end of Constantine when he was given a second chance. That’s a major contrast to Matt Ryan’s Constantine, who was rough around the edges but to a much lesser extent than Reeves’s version.
6 Matt Ryan’s Constantine Is More Light-Hearted
As a corollary to Matt Ryan’s Constantine being less bitter than Reeves’s version, Ryan’s was also better adjusted to his powers and life. Because of that, he was much more prone to sardonic jokes and banter with other characters, particularly once he joined a team of heroes on Legends of Tomorrow. Reeves’s Constantine almost completely lacked a sense of humor, though his redemption at the end of his movie might have opened him up to developing one.
Ordinarily, the end of a TV series after one season is generally the last time the actors involved play their characters, but Matt Ryan’s Constantine became a very unique case indeed. Aside from his live-action performances as Constantine, Ryan has also lent his voice to various animated incarnations of Constantine. These have included the web-series Constantine: City of Demons and the DC animated films Justice League Dark, Constantine: City of Demons, Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, and the Max streaming series Harley Quinn.
4 Matt Ryan’s Constantine Has A More Sinister Past
Though Matt Ryan’s Constantine was less gruff compared to Keanu Reeves’s version, his origin story was closer to the comics and carried over much of his less-than-heroic past. Ryan’s Constantine was established as a one-time con artist who came to use his powers to hunt demons. Meanwhile, Reeves’s Constantine had a much more tragic past as a terrified kid learning he could see demons and being frightened into suicide by his supernatural powers before being resuscitated.
3 The Two Constantines’ Powers Are Portrayed Differently
While both Reeves’s and Ryan’s Constantine’s shared the same supernatural abilities, their respective versions of the character exhibit their powers in notably different ways. Ryan’s Constantine maintained the character’s occult background and detective persona as core features of his own show and his role on Legends of Tomorrow. With 2005’s Constantine being presented as more of a Keanu Reeves-led supernatural horror movie than a superhero film, the powers of Reeves’s Constantine were presented more similarly to The Sixth Sense, focusing primarily on his ability to see and interact with the world of angels and demons.
2 Keanu Reeves’s Constantine Has More Overtly Religious Themes
The occult themes of Constantine’s comic book origins were prominent in Matt Ryan’s version of the character, while Reeves’s Constantine was shown with more of a Judeo-Christian focus. The wager between God and Lucifer (Peter Stomare) for the souls of all humanity formed the foundation for the supernatural battle at play in Constantine, with Reeves’s demon hunter revealing the only rule of both sides having “no direct contact with humans.” With Constantine framing its story through a largely Catholic lens, Reeves’s version of John Constantine leaned more in the direction of viewing the supernatural through a Biblical, rather than occult, perspective.
1 Keanu Reeves’s Constantine Only Had One Story (So Far)
While Matt Ryan’s Constantine headlined his own show, appeared in the ensemble of Legends of Tomorrow, and lent his voice to animated adaptations, Keanu Reeves’s Constantine has stood as a one-and-done since Constantine released in 2005. However, Reeves lobbied hard for Constantine 2 for years, and news finally broke of the sequel entering development in 2022. While there hasn’t been much hard news on Constantine 2 after the establishment of DC Studios, Reeves’s interest and the cult status Constantine remain high, so hopefully, Keanu Reeves’s version of John Constantine will join Matt Ryan’s in having multiple supernatural adventures to his name.
