Long-Awaited DC Sequel Will Be Hard R-Rated Horrorfest
For fans of the original exorcism action film, the news that Keanu Reeves was returning for a Constantine sequel felt like a real gift from heaven. We didn’t think anything could make us more hyped for this film, but Constantine 2 producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura has recently revealed something that has us dying to see it. We already knew the movie was going to have a hard R rating, and the producer now tantalizingly claims that the script is complete but that he is “too scared to read it.”
The Script
At first, that sounds like a cheesy marketing line—after all, what could make Constantine 2 sound scarier than the revelation that a producer is too frightened to flip the pages on the script?
But Di Bonaventura confirmed that he hasn’t read the script yet because he is experiencing the same anxiety shared by fans everywhere. “I want it to be good so bad,” he said.
Constantine
On paper, at least, Constantine 2 has the primary ingredients necessary to be a killer sequel. Keanu Reeves is expected to reprise his role as John Constantine, and his performance last time was so good that comic nerds forgave him for not rocking the character’s famous British accent.
And the previous film’s director Francis Lawrence is returning to helm the sequel, and he was the first to spill the bloody details that the new movie will be “very rated-R.”
Returning Cast?
Beyond that, the details about Constantine 2 are admittedly much murkier. It is not clear whether Rachel Weisz or Tilda Swinton will be reprising their roles from the first film, with Swinton even speculating that her own character might be replaced by Reeves, who would somehow now play the archangel Gabriel. Exactly how this would work is a bit baffling to ponder, but since when has the superhero rumor mill made much sense?
Part Of The DCU?
For DC fans, the bigger question is whether this movie is going to be part of James Gunn’s DCU, the second attempt to create an interconnected universe after the DCEU crashed (or should that be Flash-ed?) and burned.
That universe will have interconnected movies and TV shows (like Gunn’s own Superman film and the Lanterns series on Max), but we will still get films outside the DCU, including The Batman 2 and the upcoming Joker: Folie a Deux. The violent, R-rated Constantine 2 is likely to be outside the DCU, though we’d admittedly kill for an onscreen brood-off betweeen Keanu Reeves and Robert Pattinson.
More News To Come
For Constantine 2, there are many unanswered questions, but what we do know is reassuring: the return of the original star and director and commitment to making an R-rated horror fest are reasons to celebrate. Reeves himself deserves special credit, both for his willingness to reprise iconic older roles (he was great in that last Bill & Ted movie) and how hard he has championed the cinematic return of John Constantine.
The talent and passion behind this film are already putting the soulless, cookie-cutter Marvel formula to shame, and we are frankly much more excited about the return of Reeves than the return of Robert Downey, Jr.
Source: ComicBook.com
