While most have expressed excitement for the sequel's announcement, Peter Stormare reveals he is a little nervous about Constantine 2. Keanu Reeves led the cast of the original movie as the DC Comics warlock as he investigates why the veil between Heaven and Hell is being broken and demons are breaking out on Earth. Helmed by future I Am Legend filmmaker Francis Lawrence, Constantine was met with mixed reviews from critics and audiences, but was a modest success and saw a cult following amass in the years since its release, finally securing a sequel order from Warner Bros. earlier this year.
While speaking exclusively with Screen Rant for his upcoming rom-com Food and Romance, Peter Stormare opened up about the in-development Constantine 2. In addition to confirming his post announcing the sequel two years early was primarily him putting it out in the universe, the original movie's Lucifer actor confirmed that talks have been underway on the film since "a year after" after the original and expressed some nerves for doing the sequel so far after. See what Stormare shared below:
It was me, but it's been in the talks back and forth. It was in the talks after the first one, like a year after, because even then the DVD sold pretty good, and social media started to come around, and Constantine was always something that people did love. The people with some cineastic eye find it very iconic, and they talked about [making Constantine 2] two years after, then four years after, and then six years after. I think finally with Keanu saying, "If we're going to do this, we have to do it, we can't wait 20 years." If you do a sequel, you should do it sooner. But if we have the same director, the same writer, the same cast, we might be able to pull it off. He and I are pretty close, the only one I really know in the community of actors in Hollywood, he just wanted to keep it in the same formula, I guess. But also, the studios are strange out here, because they want the "boom, crash, bang" and to do a sequel to Constantine, I'm sure there's going to be a million times more of the special effects and all that. I think Keanu, we have talked, he said, "I want to keep it like the first one. Simple, contain and based on characters, not on special effects, and if we can get that, then I'm not in it." You know, with John Wick and Matrix — you saw Matrix, it's hard — but John Wick is because he does it all the time, it has its momentum. He's in it, Chad, the director's, in it, they know. But if you wait 10 years, it's hard to reignite and get the same fire going on, and the formula. The problem with if you do a sequel, like the fourth Matrix, so many years after, it's hard, you're never gonna get into the same category. That's the problem of doing Constantine 2, this might be too late. It might be too late, I don't know. It's nice if Keanu can have a say and say, "I'm in or out." But if Francis Lawrence is in as a director, and the writer writes it as the first one, with some other choices, with some new twists and tweaks, it might be good, but I think if we just do it like "boom, crash bang," it won't work. No one wants to see it. The Godfather Part III is a great example. I don't know anybody who loves The Godfather Part III. [Laughs] I think if it's too long of a time, things are gonna screw it up, because it's out there in the world and, as is the old Viking saying, you have to strike while the iron is hot. That's an old Viking saying we took to this country. But, I don't know, it's gonna be 15 years now, maybe, before it's gonna be [made], and we're gonna be 15 years older, that's a lot of makeup. [Chuckles] Because you want to see a sequel after the first one, so we'll see. We'll see. I know that Keanu loves the movie, and he thinks very highly of that movie, so it's up to him, if he says this script is in the right way, the vicinity of where we should go. But at the same time, I'm sure he had a saying in The Matrix, too, and The Matrix, I don't know if it took off at all. I saw the fourth Matrix, I think there was too many years gone by, and it's hard. It's hard to read sequels, and threequels, and fourquels. But, you know, hopefully it will be made, and hopefully I'm God at that time, looking exactly the same, but with a black suit.
Can Constantine 2 Live Up To Fan Expectations?
Stormare's concern of Constantine 2 not meeting fan expectations is a valid one if to look at the 15-year-gap between the two films. While a sequel coming out too quickly after its predecessor could indicate a rushed, and often inferior, development cycle, one coming longer than five years is often considered to risk losing the same spark of its predecessor, thus dooming it and any other future plans their creative teams may have come up with. The Matrix franchise proves to be one of the best examples of both sides of the field, with The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions scoring progressively worse reviews after a back-to-back production cycle, while The Matrix Resurrections saw a polarized response from critics and audiences alike and bombed at the box office.
Though Reeves did star in the latter film, it could be argued that his lack of actual creative control on The Matrix Resurrections in comparison to the John Wick franchise and the upcoming Constantine 2 doesn't inherently establish concerns for the latter. Given Lawrence recently confirmed that he is developing the story with Reeves and writer Akiva Goldsman, who helped produce the original Constantine movie, Reeves does seem to have a bigger hand in bringing the character back to the screen. Additionally, with his frequent statements of wanting to bring Constantine back, in comparison to his hesitance to reprise Neo, it seems unlikely he'd allow this passion project to fall apart.
While some have proven to fall in comparison to their predecessors, the past few years have seen a number of legacy and belated sequels met with very positive reviews from critics and audiences alike, including 2018's Halloween reboot, last year's Candyman and Blade Runner 2049. Given the original film wasn't considered a critical darling upon release, the extended time between it and Constantine 2 could actually see Reeves and his creative team learn from the mistakes of the original and build towards a follow-up that satisfies both sides of the field. In the meantime, audiences can revisit the original Constantine streaming on HBO Max now.