Wrong link Eddie.

But yes, I watched the trailer last night. Looks intense. I've never read the comic, enjoy the Keanu movie, but this looks like an entirely different thing. Looking forward to it.

Yes, ok. I want to watch this.

EDIT: the main character dude looks like what would happen if Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Guy Pearce decided to have a son.

Last edited by Saniss (2014-05-12 23:03:38)

I am so down for this. I love the movie, and this looks like that jacked up another notch of awesome.

Even setting Keanstantine aside entirely, I don't think this looks like a very good show. Visually it looks the same as any other NBC or CW fantasy series to me, and while I see what could be appealing about the character, the lead's performance strikes me as flat and uncharismatic when -- based on the dialogue -- I assume he's supposed to be wry and charming.

Could be a bad trailer, I've been wrong before, but I'll let word of mouth be my guide once it starts airing and catch up on Hulu if it lives up to the somewhat perplexing hype.

Last edited by Dorkman (2014-05-13 07:14:31)

John Constantine in the comic is a fussy bitch, in the most adorable of ways.  I don't know how the show will pan out, but in terms of the character right, they seem to have it.  The fact that one of the big four networks is dumping buckets of money into CONSTANTINE blows me away.

Keep in mind, HELLBLAZER has never been a consistent presence in my pull list.  It's a character that I respect a great deal, but is sorta writer dependent in terms of quality.  The show may turn out to be the same, but as far as the basics of the character go, they seem to really get it.

According to Wikipedia they labelled the Keanu movie Constantine to avoid confusion with Hellraiser. Don't know if that's the logic here too or if people are just used to the new title now.

I'm fully with Dorkman here. I've read the whole comic run. There is a combination of CW-looking trailer and overly-Christian magic (comments in interviews) that makes me cringe. I'd love to see a great show. But, if the quality is poor or the creators don't understand John is a conman first and a magic dabbler second, I'm out.

Also, Invid, you are correct. Several Hellblazer writers have called John Constantine a bastard you don't want to know. 90% of the people he's known are maimed or dead. Close friends tend to get it wost of all.

Last edited by Jp12x (2014-05-26 03:44:51)

And who took part in the salvaging.

I keep looking at my copy of the pilot. Staring for a few seconds and moving on to something else. I think I'm really scared that it's a bad show. Maybe when I'm looking at 5 or 6 episodes I will be able to watch it. Or, maybe I'm still suffering from hoping Doctor Who would be OK (it's not).

Massive Hellblazer fan since the beginning (and  Brit to boot), and I love, love, love the Keanu movie.

They got the hair colour wrong, they got the accent wrong. Hell, they even got the coat colour wrong. But the essential character of John, John is bang on.

So far the TV series (I've seen three) is like the exact opposite - they fixated on the wrong things. They got the hair right, they got the accent right, they got the costume right. But that guy? Not John.

I watched an episode.

My first problem with it is that John seems to be a good guy crusading for good instead of a magic junkie who is looking for a weird crap fix and sometimes trying to do a good thing. In the comic, he's not a crusading hero and many of the problems he deals with are of his own making.

Next, Papa Midnight called him a dabbler and there was no evidence of dabbling as Constantine called himself an exorcist (like in the movie) and didn't do anything but try to get rid of ghosts. I think he was also called a conman or trickster though he didn't con or trick anyone in the episode, either.

Last and worst, the comic John Constantine is a conman. He gets the crap kicked out of him on a regular basis as his plans don't always work. He cons Chas and treats him like garbage when he's kind of his oldest friend. His biggest play wasn't tricking the devil (like in the movie) but simultaneously getting three demons to hold title of his soul. That wasn't masterful magic; it was screwing himself so hard that there weren't any rules in place to deal with it. Even the "Hellblazer" title is a joke as it seems to refer to the Newcastle Incident (during which John screwed up).

That's part of my point: He grew up a working class punk but has a long-practiced posh accent, wears a tie, etc to appear to be a gentleman. But, he's not a gentleman, or posh, or a magical heavy, or a trustworthy ally, etc.

I'm truly sorry if anyone disagrees. But, I've really enjoyed the comic for years and have some strong feelings about it. I also feel like this is going to be a wasted show attempt. The same thing happened with The Dresden Files. 

Last edited by Jp12x (2014-11-24 23:24:27)

Well, I appreciate the candor here.

Also, I felt the same way about Dresden Files, but Butcher let the showrunners do their thing, and treats as a different universe than his book series. At least he has that buffer zone.

Carry on, people