Constantine sequel brings Keanu Reeves back to hell, axes HBO Max's TV reboot

Not all movie resurrections will get a positive response, but here’s one that should make comic book fans very excited over. Warner Bros has announced that it’ll be making a sequel to the 2005 supernatural film Constantine, with Keanu Reeves set to return as the titular character.

The blockbuster star will also be reunited with original director Francis Lawrence, who is best known for taking over the Hunger Games franchise after the first film. Akiva Goldsman (I Am Legend, The Dark Tower) is set to write the screenplay and produce through his Weed Road Pictures, alongside Bad Robot’s J.J Abrams and Hannah Minghella, but little else is known beyond that.

The news comes after long-gestating rumours of a Constantine sequel, especially after Reeves and Lawrence both attended a big 15-year reunion at Comic-Con. The movie's comeback means HBO Max’s TV reboot, helmed by Abrams, has now been axed, but there’s still a chance it may be revived on a different platform. Sources say that both Warner Bros Television and Bad Robot are expecting to find a new home for the show (via Variety).

ALSO READ: Keanu Reeves wants a Constantine sequel but no one will make it

With the assembly of the original pair, expectations are certainly high for the untitled sequel. Adapted from the DC Comics, Constantine follows John Constantine, an exorcist with the ability to perceive and communicate with half-angels and half-demons in their true forms and to travel between Earth and Hell. Its official synopsis reads,

“As a suicide survivor, demon hunter John Constantine (Keanu Reeves) has literally been to hell and back — and he knows that when he dies, he’s got a one-way ticket to Satan’s realm unless he can earn enough goodwill to climb God’s stairway to heaven. While helping policewoman Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz) investigate her identical twin’s apparent suicide, Constantine becomes caught up in a supernatural plot involving both demonic and angelic forces.“

Fingers crossed that this highly-anticipated reunion will once again tell one of the best interpretations of Gabriel (Tilda Swinton) and the Devil himself (Peter Stormare) in the history of cinema. No release date has been set for the project just yet, so it might be a while before we see some soul-claiming action on the silver screen.