On Friday, we learned that Warner Bros. Discovery has decided to finally bring Keanu Reeves back as John Constantine. The actor first played an Americanized version of the DC Comics character in 2005, and while some fans had mixed opinions about that spin on the source material, the movie has since developed something of a cult following.
It helps that Reeves has had a real resurgence in recent years, of course, leading to a very vocal upswell of support for him to play the Hellblazer again.
With the actor set to reunite with filmmaker Francis Lawrence for that Constantine sequel, J.J. Abrams' planned HBO Max TV series - which was going to lead to a Justice League Dark team-up project - has been scrapped. After Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, most DC Comics fans are relieved, but where does that lead actor Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù?
All signs pointed to him playing John Constantine on the small screen, bringing some diversity to the role and putting a fresh spin on the character. Unfortunately, he'll no longer get to follow in the footsteps of Reeves or The CW's Matt Ryan.
Taking to Twitter, Dìrísù made it clear he has no hard feelings with a Tweet supporting Keanu's return to the role.
Playing Constantine appears to be far from an easy ride for actors, because Ryan also had the character taken from him when Warner Bros. decided to focus on Dìrísù's version. He briefly got to take on a different role in Legends of Tomorrow, but following that show's cancellation and the impending end of the Arrowverse, we're guessing we'll only hear him as Constantine in animated projects moving forward.
Ultimately, we feel for Dìrísù and it has to hurt that he's missed out on what could have been the biggest role of his career. We're sure something else will come his way, though!