LEGENDS OF TOMORROW: Matt Ryan Forced To Give Up John Constantine Role Due To HBO Max Plans

LEGENDS OF TOMORROW: Matt Ryan Forced To Give Up John Constantine Role Due To HBO Max Plans

It's been confirmed that Matt Ryan will no longer play John Constantine in Legends of Tomorrow due to J.J. Abrams and HBO Max's plans for the character, but the actor is going to remain part of the show.

By JoshWilding - Jul 26, 2021 02:07 AM EST
Filed Under: Legends of Tomorrow

Matt Ryan first played John Constantine in his own, short-lived NBC series. Unfortunately, the network failed to give the series a decent marketing push, so fans weren't really surprised when the show ended; however, a social media campaign to bring Constantine back soon followed. 

Ultimately, The CW saved the character by giving him a cameo appearance in Arrow, and that led to the Hellblazer hero being added to the Legends of Tomorrow cast. 

Due to plans for a Constantine reboot on HBO Max from J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot (it's set to feature a darker take on the character and will likely feature a person of color as the title character), Ryan's version is being phased out of the show. As a result, John's arc will wrap up in season six, but the actor looks set to remain part of Legends of Tomorrow...as a new character!

During a panel for the show during Comic-Con@Home, executive producer Phil Klemmer confirmed that Ryan will remain a series regular in season 7 as Dr. Gwyn Davies, an eccentric scientist from the early 20th century who might be the team’s only hope.

"As everyone who loves him knows, in the end, John Constantine will walk his path alone. The time has come for John to part ways with the Legends, and for me to part ways with John," Ryan says. "I’m really excited to be creating this new role on the show and having some fun with it — discovering how this new character fits in and causes some trouble for the Legends."

You can also check out a sneak peek at the rest of Legends of Tomorrow's sixth season below:
 

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SimplyAz
SimplyAz - 7/26/2021, 2:41 AM
That's a shame as I enjoyed his portrayal of John on Legends, but glad to see Matt Ryan get to stay on.

Hopefully this means we get to see Constantine in a movie soon.

Dan Stevens will hopefully get cast, but I wouldn't mind seeing Colin O' Donoghue.
My Missus watched Once Upon a Time and have to say that Colin stole the show whenever he was on screen

solskulldeath
solskulldeath - 7/26/2021, 2:53 AM
@SimplyAz - hopefully someone who can do the scouse slang since John Constantine is from Liverpool.
SimplyAz
SimplyAz - 7/26/2021, 2:56 AM
@solskulldeath -

Yes please, would be great.

Also hopefully they can get someone who resembles a young Sting

2013venjix
2013venjix - 7/26/2021, 2:43 AM
It was a good run for Matt.
JDL
JDL - 7/26/2021, 2:46 AM
What a crappy thing for HBO to do.
dracula
dracula - 7/26/2021, 8:11 AM
@JDL - Wish Matt Ryan didnt have to give up the role, but the JLD needs Constantine and really as soon as he appeared on Arrow, there was no chance of connecting Ryan to the movie (Del Toro wanted to make the show canon for his version of jld)
JDL
JDL - 7/26/2021, 3:46 PM
@dracula - Unless the TV verse is canon to the movies they didn't have to do it. And if the resentment is enough it will hurt the movie. Bad move imo.
solskulldeath
solskulldeath - 7/26/2021, 2:50 AM
Matt Ryan is the best john Constantine we have, and yet they want him to stop doing it and do another character. bullshit. WB is becoming bullshit.
The1st
The1st - 7/26/2021, 5:24 AM
@solskulldeath - Yes, especially since they seem to have no problem running The Flash while the movie is in production. Makes me wonder if that show's days are numbered too. My biggest rant, and I've said this before, is the demographic BS studios are now embracing. I'm not saying John can't be tweaked...whether it be racially, gender, or orientation. I'm tired of the pandering though. Like I really just want a show about Hollywood execs, it would be gold. They haven't got John right onscreen once yet, with all due respect to Keanu. Now, let's just reinvent the character because diversity. It would be great if it were for a good reason and genuine, but it's Hollywood and they're just in the business of $$$. If bending helps with the bottom line they go with it and I'm sick of it. I just imagine a Evans laughing meme over at Marvel as DC commits their selves to going down the rabbit hole.

solskulldeath
solskulldeath - 7/26/2021, 5:52 AM
@The1st - we need a geek with a brain as exec in the Hollywood industry!
solskulldeath
solskulldeath - 7/26/2021, 2:51 AM
hopefully, if they want to recast John Constantine, make it much better than Matt Ryan, and please no race swap.
Origame
Origame - 7/26/2021, 6:26 AM
@solskulldeath - if they race swap, then this will really just highlight why people hate the principle so much. Seriously, Matt Ryan's portrayal is really the main reason people most people care about the character. And they're canceling his run for a person of color to take the role?
DarkDetective
DarkDetective - 7/26/2021, 7:45 AM
@solskulldeath - it leaked a while ago that they were looking to cast Rhiz Amed type i believe. So JJ Abrahams went from ruinig Star Wars to ruining Superman and now Constantine. [frick] him and his big ass forehead.
Webster614
Webster614 - 7/26/2021, 7:52 AM
@solskulldeath - Good luck with that. Just be ready for most of your favorite characters from the books to be either race or gender swapped. Especially if they're white males or redheads. Just wait until the casting news for F4 comes out.
dracula
dracula - 7/26/2021, 8:12 AM
@solskulldeath - Really as long as he is still british, it should be fine
solskulldeath
solskulldeath - 7/26/2021, 7:43 PM
@dracula - yeah I know but just made the john has his scouse slang, that will be much accurate.
solskulldeath
solskulldeath - 7/26/2021, 7:44 PM
@DarkDetective - JJ abraham is just becoming the new Zack Snyder.
DarkDetective
DarkDetective - 7/26/2021, 7:56 PM
@solskulldeath - well, regardless of your opinion of his films, at least most of his castings were pretty spot on (minus Ezra Miller and, well, I liked Momoa in Aquaman)
solskulldeath
solskulldeath - 7/27/2021, 12:10 AM
@DarkDetective - don't get me wrong, I do like Jason Momoa as Aquaman, and Henry Cavill as superman is brilliant, it just I don't like how he craves the story.
OmegaBlack13
OmegaBlack13 - 7/26/2021, 2:55 AM
What’s the point of a “it all counts” multiverse if this type of stuff is gonna happen?
bkmeijer2
bkmeijer2 - 7/26/2021, 3:09 AM
So we have four different Batman over the span of just a few years, but having someone like Ryan in a role he's played for over 7 years now has to quit because... why exactly? I think audiences can easily differtiate between this and the new version
Mrcool210
Mrcool210 - 7/26/2021, 3:16 AM
Well wait if DC is doing this whole thing of multi verses and that "everything is canon" even having Barry meet the movie version in crisis, then what's the point in this?. Audiences won't get confused they will know it's a different version and people love this version of John Constantine so why not just let them have it while doing your HBO Max show?
AtakanKaratas
AtakanKaratas - 7/26/2021, 3:16 AM
This is such bullshit. What's the point of a multiverse then? They're having like 20 Superman projects at the moment but can't have 2 Constantine?
TheBlueMorpho
TheBlueMorpho - 7/26/2021, 3:18 AM
Even though I stopped watching Legends I liked him as Constantine. So what I'm trying to say is......

TheBlueMorpho
TheBlueMorpho - 7/26/2021, 3:20 AM
Also.....

"Due to plans for a Constantine reboot on HBO Max from J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot (it's set to feature a darker take on the character and will likely feature a person of color as the title character)"

TheBlueMorpho
TheBlueMorpho - 7/27/2021, 12:40 PM
@MasterShakeZula -

CLTMAN29
CLTMAN29 - 7/26/2021, 3:23 AM
Forgive me, but this is the most footage I've seen from this show.....is it for real? 'The only way for us to escape is to defeat a team of alien bowlers?'....this has got six seasons?!
luckypenny
luckypenny - 7/26/2021, 3:41 AM
@CLTMAN29 - They saved a young Barack Obama from Gorilla Grodd and Elvis Presley from the ghost of his dead twin brother.

Also John Noble was voicing the big bad of season 3 and in an episode, they were watching LOTR and realized Denethor has the same voice. So they went back in time to the filming of the LOTR trilogy to get the real John Noble to record some dialogue they will use against their enemies.

This show is great.
Tasmaniac
Tasmaniac - 7/26/2021, 3:53 AM
@CLTMAN29 - They fought a giant, blue, demonic entity possessed Furby as a climax to a season. It was at that point the wife and I were like, “[frick] it, we’re out” 🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♂️
nikgrid
nikgrid - 7/26/2021, 3:27 AM
Due to plans for a Constantine reboot on HBO Max from J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot (it's set to feature a darker take on the character and will likely feature a person of color as the title character)

Here we go.
TheShape9859
TheShape9859 - 7/26/2021, 3:30 AM
What the hell is with all the race swapping??? Stop it! Can we cast Melissa McCarthy as Amanda Waller??
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