In the wake of another wildly successful season of the CW’s Arrow, featuring the early exploits of Oliver Queen, a.k.a. Green Arrow, it was little surprise that the spin-off series The Flash would get picked up. Especially given how popular Arrow’s introduction of Barry Allen was this season. The Batman prequel series Gotham, airing this fall on FOX was similarly picked up. But those shows were easy to predict. As if The Flash and Batman (though admittedly minus the actual Batman) series weren’t going to get at least a season. However, another DC property has been picked up, one featuring a lesser-known character and whose future was somewhat shaky until the recent announcement. Yes, I’m talking about John Constantine.
NBC has only just released the news that is has picked up a full season of Constantine, based on the popular (in some circles) DC comic series Hellblazer (and not the awful Keanu Reeves movie). Here is NBC’s official description of the series:
Based on the wildly popular comic book series “Hellblazer” from DC Comics, seasoned demon hunter and master of the occult John Constantine (Matt Ryan, “Criminal Minds”) specializes in giving hell… hell. Armed with a ferocious knowledge of the dark arts and his wickedly naughty wit, he fights the good fight – or at least he did. With his soul already damned to hell, he’s decided to leave his do-gooder life behind, but when demons target Liv (Lucy Griffiths, “True Blood”), the daughter of one of Constantine’s oldest friends, he’s reluctantly thrust back into the fray – and he’ll do whatever it takes to save her. Before long, it’s revealed that Liv’s “second sight” – an ability to see the worlds behind our world and predict supernatural occurrences – is a threat to a mysterious new evil that’s rising in the shadows. Now it’s not just Liv who needs protection; the angels are starting to get worried too. So, together, Constantine and Liv must use her power and his skills to travel the country, find the demons that threaten our world and send them back where they belong. After that, who knows… maybe there’s hope for him and his soul after all.
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I am very excited about this show. I’ve only recently begun reading the Hellblazer comics and I love them a lot. If the showrunners handle the material well, I could see this show lasting a long time.
Along with The Flash and Gotham, Constantine is joined by a fourth DC property getting picked up to series, the CW’s iZombie, about a medical student/zombie who eats the brains of the dead, absorbing their memories and using them to solve murders. The source material for iZombie is really wonderful, so that’s another one I’m really looking forward to. In all, I’d say that this is shaping up to be a very good year for DC on TV.
Source: SuperHeroHype
