Eight Things I learnt from the Constantine Pilot

Hell's coming to town.

I recently had the chance to watch the pilot of the new Constantine show coming this fall. Being a Hellblazer reader and a slightly disappointed fan of the direction DC has taken with him, this show may be the only chance of seeing the true Constantine again.

So, how did it go? Read on....

(Spoilers follow for pilot and Hellblazer comic book series……..)

1. They’ve got an almost perfect Constantine

Matt Ryan plays the antagonistic selfish anti-hero quite well, from his accent to his snarky delivery.

It doesn’t always come off, but he embodies the soul of the artful dodger very well. The twist at the end when John reveals that he is manipulating Liv into helping him willingly was classic Constantine.

They also give some of John’s backstory, which is more true to the comics than I-killed-myself-so-going-to-hell thing of the movie.

There is an overuse of spells in this pilot, but John's fabled trickery shines through. Whether it is luring the antagonist into a false sense of superiority only to have it flip on him or the manipulation, John the trickster is in full display.

For those giving withering looks at his name being spelled by him as 'Constan-teen' and no blatant smoking, those are little things compared to what they've got right.

2. Reverence to the source material

They have Ravenscar Asylum in London, the Newcastle incident and even try to include some of the less savory qualities of John’s lifestyle.

Chas is a same age companion of John from London and most of the elements in the comics are incorporated here.

Not to mention namedropping the First of the Fallen.

Constantine's 'introduction' at the end is almost word-to-word lifted from the Dangerous Habits storyline (Hellblazer #41).
 

3. The supporting Hellblazer group

As mentioned above, Astra from the Newcastle incident plays a pivotal part in the pilot with her being John’s weakness amid all his hubris.

Ritchie Simpson of the Newcastle crew also appears in a technological expert capacity. We may get the Newcastle crew in this show, people!

Not to mention, a proper Chas!

Don't worry, Chas isn't leaving us so soon as seen in the trailers. Apparently, he has a way to survive fatal chest wounds. Makes sense given all the s*** Constantine gets into that his 'oldest friend' will have survival skills.

4. New characters don’t hit the mark

Liv Aberdine and Manny both struggle to fit into the story.

One reduced to a wide-eyed newbie stereotype while the other is an exposition vehicle.

The acting chops by Liv, being a main character, are more pronouncedly awkward and a little on the melodrama side.

I hope Liv doesn’t stay for the long haul and we get to see the other more ‘relevant’ angels arrive like Gabriel.

It's not that Liv cannot grow and be interesting in her own right, but John has been a loner most of his life and attaching someone to him doesn't work for a long period. Guy's gotta be selfish, don't forget it.

5. The smoking problem is worked around

One of the major problems with this show was the ‘no smoking’ clause. Now for most Hellblazer aficionados, separating John from his pack of smokes is a travesty paramount to death.

But the show manages to work around the network’s dictum by alluding to John’s smoking. A cigarette bud there, a lighter here – anyone with keen sight with be able to realize Constantine is puffing away.

Adapting the Dangerous Habits arc may not be as farfetched as it seems right now.

6. The effects are good

Most of the best horror scenes were given away in the trailer – the possessed girl, the decaying grandmother, but that doesn’t take away the fact that Constantine is not your average teen horror drama – it’s ready to get down and dirty.

We’re yet to see Nergal in more than a shadowy avatar (he did look menacing in the brief shot though).

So the more supernatural creatures are still in the future and that is the biggest challenge yet for the effects department.

7. The Easter Egg!

For people who saw the trailer, a familiar helmet appears in Jasper’s study. Yes, on closer examination in the pilot, it is the Helmet of Nabu aka Dr Fate!

And that's just the tip of the iceberg it seems. There are more prominent artifacts lying around but one of them caught my attention more than the other.

Is that Swamp Thing's skull resting in a case? Whether it is the Green's avatar or something else like maybe Pandora's Box isn't clear right now.

When Liv goes up to the map, we see some backwards writing on the blackboard. 'More than this' is written there. Now, in DC Comics, popular magician Zatanna and her (mostly) late father Zatara are proficient users of this type of backwards magic. Not to mention Zatanna being one of Constantine's ex-flames in the comics.

There does seem to be parallel to Zatanna and Liv here. Both are daughters of prominent mages and Constantine feels guilty for his part in their fathers' deaths. Though the difference is Liv is a newbie while Zatanna knew of her heritage since day one.

Now given that this series will focus on the supernatural side of DC Comics and Goyer, who’s active in the new DCU Snyder’s building, is on board, it isn’t a stretch to say we might meet Kent Nelson and maybe Swamp Thing, Deadman, Phantom Stranger and Zatanna down the road.

Hopefully this will be the seed for the Justice League Dark movie by Del Toro that I want.

8. This isn’t a Supernatural ripoff

I love Supernatural, despite its damaged state since Season 5, and can emphatically state that this isn’t like it except for being based on supernatural elements.

First of all, no shirtless hotbods or gorgeous gals here. Nor is there much time given for angsty melodrama except for Liv.

Hellblazer has its own great mythos, general readers, and if Constantine brings even half of that to screen, we have a winner on our hands.

October can't come soon enough!

So, is this the new comic book based show I’m the most stoked about come fall?

Yes, yes it is.

For all the awesomeness the Flash pilot was, it had some CW mandated melodrama that is thankfully missing from this.

While I would have loved to have this on HBO or Showtime so that we can get to the bottoms of depravity this series can be plunged into, upto now I'm satisfied with what I've got.

 I’ve got my nasty piece of work finally on screen and we’re in for a rip-roaring time!