James Gunn’s DC Exit Has ‘Renewed Hope’ for a Cult-Favorite Superhero Sequel

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Published Nov 12, 2026, 10:38 AM EST

Willa Rowe is a contributing writer at Polygon, covering games and entertainment. She is a New York-based journalist and critic whose work has been featured in Kotaku, Digital Trends, the A.V. Club, GamesRadar+, and more. She also co-hosts the Girl Mode podcast.

Francis Lawrence and Keanu Reeves are both eager to make Constantine 2

A wet Constantine holds up his two arms to form a rune tattoo

The sudden exit of DC Studios co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran this week has cast doubt on the fate of several projects the two had in the works. Gunn's Superman follow-up, Man of Tomorrow, is still planned for release next year, but everything beyond that is up in the air. The shake-up could be good news for one long-awaited project, however. Director Francis Lawrence believes his Constantine 2 is more likely than ever.

Talking to Collider, Lawrence shared that he has "renewed hope" that a sequel to his 2005 film starring Keanu Reeves could finally move forward. Talk of a possible Constantine 2 began in late 2021 after Reeves stated that he would love to revisit the character. During an interview with Stephen Colbert, Reeves shared that he had already tried to make it happen. That public statement seemed to have gotten the ball rolling. In 2022, Deadline reported that Warner Bros. was developing a sequel with Lawrence and Reeves both set to return. Oscar-winner Akiva Goldsman was writing the script, with J.J. Abrams producing.

Reeves and Gunn met after Gunn took over DC Studios, and while the project was supposedly still moving forward, no updates have been shared since. Lawrence told Collider that the script is finished and everyone still wants to make it happen, so it's up to "whoever's running DC now" to get on board. Lawrence has more than one project in purgatory at the moment, as his BioShock movie is also making slow progress.

DC should bring back a different version of Constantine

If the new DC leadership is considering reviving an older version of Constantine rather than starting over, then Reeves' take on the character may not actually be the best choice. Matt Ryan (who gamers may know as the voice of Edward Kenway in Assassin's Creed) played John Constantine from 2014 to 2015 in NBC's short-lived Constantine series. Fans adored Ryan's portrayal of the occultist so much that he reprised the role in the CW's Arrowverse, joining the main cast of Legends of Tomorrow. Ryan has also voiced the character in several animated projects, including Justice League Dark and Constantine: The House of Mystery. Ryan clearly has a deep love for the character, and has undoubtedly left his mark on fans even more than Keanu Reeves.

Neither Reeves nor Ryan may end up returning to the role. An entirely new Constantine movie is in development, with Evil Dead Wrath director Francis Galluppi writing the script. That news broke days before Gunn and Safran's exit from DC, so it could be scrapped because of the leadership shakeup.

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