The campaign to get NBC's supernatural drama Constantine picked up for a second season following its cancelation was ultimately unsuccessful, but fans are nonetheless declaring "#ConstantineSaved" on social media thanks to a daring rescue by Starling City's resident vigilante. The CW's Arrow, we learned this week, will star Matt Ryan back in the role of John Constantine during an episode of the upcoming fourth season.

This ties into the themes of magic and mysticism that are about to come into play on Arrow. Former Black Canary Sara Lance will be resurrected as White Canary in the upcoming season, courtesy of the Lazarus Pit, before her character joins the line-up of The CW's next spinoff series, DC's Legends of Tomorrow. Fortunately for Sara, John Constantine happens to know a thing or two about dealing with the dead.

Speaking to TV Insider, Arrow's executive producer Marc Guggenheim described Constantine's appearance as a "one-time-only deal" that involved "the trench coat, the tie, the shirt... the whole wardrobe... being taken out for storage and shipped up to Vancouver." The episode Constantine appears in, the fifth episode of Arrow's fourth season, will be directed by John Badham, who also helmed the Constantine episode "Danse Vaudou".

The most interesting revelation from Guggenheim, however, was a hint at the crucial role Constantine will play in the resurrection of Sara Lance. The showrunner explained that Sara's trip back from the afterlife won't be an easy one.

"Unlike Thea, who wasn’t fully dead, the consequences of using the pit on someone as dead as Sara was creates some unforeseen difficulties... and John Constantine is uniquely suited to help our team deal with those."

In The CW's comic book-based TV universe, those "unforeseen difficulties" could mean anything from emotional instability to demon possession, but John Constantine is probably better equipped to deal with the latter.

Matt Ryan looking at a fire in Constantine

John Constantine comes from the pages of Hellblazer, a supernatural horror comic published under DC's Vertigo imprint. The character is a magician and con artist who is haunted by the fallout of a botched exorcism, and in the TV show he actively sought out supernatural events in order to save people and work towards redeeming his soul. TV's Constantine leans more towards goodness and altruism than his comic book counterpart but he's still a flawed hero. As Guggenheim explains, Constantine is just what Starling City needs in the upcoming season.

"Each year on the show, we have added and expanded the mythology with different elements. In season two we introduced the idea of superpowers, last year brought in the League of Assassins, and for season four, we always had a plan to introduce magic and mysticism... We were already swimming in those waters and that's why Constantine is this great organic little development."

Unfortunately, as mentioned above, fans probably shouldn't expect to see Constantine appear on Arrow as a recurring character, or get their hopes up for The CW making a second season of his TV show. As far as current plans go, this is simply a one-time treat for the fans who were clamoring for more Constantine.

The Flash season two debuts October 6th, 2015 on The CW; Arrow returns for season four a day later on October 7th; and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow is expected to debut on The CW by the first half of 2016.

Source: TV Insider (via CBM)