On the heels of his Matrix success, Keanu Reeves took on the role of Constantine. Based on a character from DC Comics, Constantine is a demonologist and exorcist who possesses supernatural abilities.
The Reeves-led Constantine was released in 2005, earning over $200 million at the box office, which is quite impressive considering that it was made with a $75 million production budget.
Following its success, there has been much talk about doing a sequel with director Francis Lawrence even keen to return as well. Recently, however, Reeves has also expressed his interest in playing another iconic character for the DC Comics Extended Universe (DCEU).
And if the newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery does give in, what would this mean for previous plans for Constantine 2?
Keanu Reeves Said He Would Love To Play An ‘Older’ Batman In The DCEU
When Dwayne Johnson and his Seven Bucks Productions started working on the animated film DC League of Super-Pets, they reached out to Reeves right away. As it turns out, they have been wanting to work with the action star for quite some time and they thought this might just be up his alley.
“He just got it,” Seven Bucks President Hiram Garcia recalled of their Zoom call with Reeves. “He loved the idea and understood what we wanted to do with Batman.”
It also seems that working on the animated feature was enough to convince Reeves to do more projects with DC Comics. “I love Batman, as a character. I love him in the comic books, in the films, so to get the opportunity to voice, to play Batman was awesome,” he said.
The actor also hinted that he’s open to playing the Caped Crusader in the DCEU under the right circumstances. “Maybe down the road. Maybe when they need an older Batman…”
At present, there are already three actors attached to the role – Ben Affleck, Robert Pattinson, and Michael Keaton. Pattinson most recently headlined Matt Reeves’ The Batman while both Affleck and Keaton are playing Gotham’s superhero in the upcoming DCEU film The Flash.
And with signs indicating that the DCEU is headed towards a multiverse, that could well present Reeves with the opportunity to play an older version of the Caped Crusader or a version of him from an alternative universe.
Does Keanu Want To Appear In A Second Constantine Film?
If Reeves were to play Batman though, that may have some repercussions when it comes to his intentions in playing Constantine again. In recent years, the actor seems to have been revisiting a couple of his past roles, including Neo from the Matrix franchise and Ted from the Bill and Ted movies.
And when he was asked on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert if there was another character he’d like to revisit, Reeves readily answered, “I want to play...I would love to play John Constantine again, from the Constantine film.”
And when Colbert clarified if no one would make the film, Reeves simply replied, “I've tried. I've tried, Stephen.”
Now, Reeves’ admission that he “tried” may be an understatement. For years, he, Lawrence, and producer Akiva Goldsman have been working hard to get the sequel made. “We wanted to make a hard-R sequel, I think we could probably make it tomorrow,” Goldman even said once.
“Its oddness, the way it’s equally comfortable with a character scene between Keanu and [Rachel Weisz] as it is with demons hurling themselves at a man who is going to light his fist on fire and expel them. It’s odd. It’s not exactly action-packed, but it has action…”
Admittedly, the producer also said that films like this are the ones that “seem to get harder and harder to make these days.”
Will The Studio Make Constantine 2?
It doesn’t even seem like the budget was ever an issue. Instead, the studios just aren’t interested, with Goldsman even saying that they’ve already spoken with both Village Roadshow and Warner Bros.
"With Constantine being a part of Vertigo, which is a part of DC, people have plans for these shared universes. You know, possibly different Constantines and things like that,” Lawrence also explained.
“We all investigated it, but I think it's kind of crazy when you have Keanu, who would love to do another Constantine, and us wanting to do another Constantine, and people are like, ‘Uh, no, we got other plans.’ We'll see what happens.”
At the moment, Reeves is preparing the film John Wick: Chapter 5 as Chapter 4 nears its release (it’s slated for March 24, 2023). It was also recently announced that the action star will be teaming up with Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese for the small screen adaptation of Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City.
At the same time, Reeves is also working on a film based on the comics BRZRKR, which he co-wrote with Matt Kindt.
