He's back!
Constantine: City of Demons is an animated reboot of NBC's cult show Constantine (2014)note for CW Seed.
Ever since John had his guest appearance on Arrow, after his show's premature cancellation, there have been constant rumors that The CW would revive the NBC series; however this seemed unlikely due to legal complications that forbade Constantine from appearing again after his episode on Arrow; for one reason or another, those restrictions were later lifted.
The new show has a format similar to Vixen with five or six episodes that are ten minutes long. It premiered on March 24th, 2018 with Matt Ryan once again voicing the character.
Contrary to initial reports, it is not in the same continuity as the live-action show, but rather the New 52-based direct-to-DVD universe, in which Constantine debuted in Justice League Dark.
It was later released as a full-length movie with extra footage on October 9, 2018 (before the other installments had even been released online). The first half was broadcast on the CW on October 15 under the title, Constantine: The Legend Continues as a special to promote Constantine being a main character on Season 4 on Legends of Tomorrow.
Tropes:
- Adaptation Amalgamation: The film is mostly an adaptation of the graphic novel All His Engines but it also includes Astra's abduction from issue #11 of the main run of Hellblazer.
- Adapted Out: John's cohorts in Newcastle, Ritchie Simpson, Gary Lester, and Anne-Marie Flynn are nowhere to be seen. Although Ritchie does has a good excuse for not being around, having been offed in Justice League Dark.
- Adaptational Dumbass: In the original comics John summons Nergal not to fight Alex Logue, Astra's father, but rather because Astra herself summoned a powerful demon to defend her from her father's constant abuse. He had no other means of even trying to beat the demon at the time and made a desperate mistake. Here, he jumped straight to lord of hell against a half-witted magician just to show off. As Renee puts it, "He could've just called the cops!"
- Advertised Extra: See those creepy demons behind John in that poster up there? Besides the Chernobog-looking guy in the back, every one of them dies in the first footage from the show we ever saw.
- Alternate Continuity: Rather than being set in the Arrowverse, it's instead set in the DC Animated Movie Universe. For starters, the Newcastle Crew is adapted out and Chas is made to be a fellow Brit instead of American and is clean-shaven.
- Artistic License – Law: In the first episode, John and Chas meet in a bar, with the former leisurely smoking cigarettes in the booth. As of 2007, smoking has been banned in all enclosed spaces in the United Kingdom, including bars.
- Big Bad: The demon Beroul who abducted Chas' daughter to compel Constantine into killing his demonic competitors. He also happens to be Nergal, the demon who sent Astra to hell.
- Bittersweet Ending: Constantine succeeds in saving Trish and defeats Nergal for good but the spell he used to do it costs the love between Chas and his wife as well as his own friendship with Chas. He also fails to save Astra.
- Bloodier and Gorier: Than the NBC series, by a massive degree.
- Canon Foreigner: Angela doesn't seem to have any counterpart in the original comics canon nor the NBC TV show.
- Cast as a Mask: Jim Meskimen voices Beroul while Robin Atkin Downes voices Nergal, his true form.
- Composite Character: Nergal and Beroul are one and the same here but are distinct demons in the comic.
- Darker and Edgier: Unlike the NBC series, CW Seed doesn't have to worry about FCC or network guidelines. Amongst other things John is free to smoke as much as he wants, and there's more swearing, violence, and gore. John can also interact with actual demons (which would've been infeasible on a broadcast budget).
- Dark Is Not Evil: Asa, who looks like she should be a villain just by her dark colors and the way she dresses, but might actually be one of the most good characters in the story.
- Deal with the Devil: Averted, Nergal tries to save himself in the end by offering to bring John into Hell so he can save Astra even if it means Trish dies. Luckily Constantine doesn't take the bait.
- Death by Adaptation: John kills Mictlantecuhtli once he served his purpose. In the comic, John makes him leave by threatening to kill his host Trish.
- Derivative Differentiation: Astra's damnation to Hell is quite different from the live-action show; in the show, Constantine and his Newcastle Crew were trying to exorcise a demon from her that went horribly wrong when he summoned a powerful demon, Nergal, to banish it and instead it took Astra to hell. Here she was being used as a conduit in dark magic rituals by her abusive father. Constantine, thoroughly disgusted by it, summoned Nergal to teach her dad and his cultists a lesson, but since Constantine failed to place a binding seal on Nergal, the demon went rampant. John didn't have any help from his crew, instead it was just him and Chas.
- Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: Angela the spirit of Los Angeles pulls John into a bathroom and has sex with him. John is afraid of Angela, and not exactly consenting, but the whole thing is never addressed.
- Double Standard: Rape, Sci-Fi: Also, Angela may be possessing an unwilling host.
- Evil vs. Evil: Beroul blackmails Constantine into his service to kill five other high ranking demons for him, as they're trying to move in on his new "franchise" in the mortal world.
- Foreshadowing: Very early on in the show, John warns Chas that there's always a price to pay with magic, but Chas says he willingly to pay it to save Trish. He's none too happy when he learns that Trish nor Rene will remember him because of the spell he used to save her.
- Gods Need Prayer Badly: An Aztec death god manages to survive off the deaths of animals in a slaughterhouse.
- Horrible Hollywood: Exploited, as Beroul believes it to be the perfect place for an enterprising demon to set up shop.
- I Have Many Names: Beroul introduces himself with this trope. This foreshadows that he's also known as Nergal.
- Ink-Suit Actor: As is the norm for the CW Seed animated series. Notably, Constantine's design is the same one from Justice League Dark.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia:
- After forcing Renee to tell her the backstory on Constantine, the Nightmare Nurse erases her memory of the conversation to spare her the pain of retelling it.
- The curse Constantine used to kill Nergal had the price of Renee and Trish's love for their respective husband and father, as well as the friendship between Constantine and Chas. Renee and Trish lose all of their love, and thus their memories, of Chas. And Chas forgets the decades-long friendship he had with John.
- Ms. Fanservice: Asa the Nightmare Nurse is a buxom woman in heels with long legs, and alternates between multiple, very sexy nurse-themed outfits.
- Mythology Gag:
- After Beroul painfully releases Asa from his possession, she exclaims "If I was human, I'd be toast now." That's exactly what happened to Fennel in the comic.
- A painting in Beroul's mansion is actually a panel from All His Engines comic depicting Beroul's torture chamber which is portrayed differently in this movie.
- Next Sunday A.D.: A newspaper from the third episode depicts the series as taking place in late October 2018; the first season was released in late March 2018. However, the rest of the series was released in October.
- The Power of Love: Constantine kills Nergal with a spell fueled by Chas and Renee's love for each others and for their daughter. It turns out later that he also used his own friendship with Chas and the spell literally consumed the memories of it.
- Prequel: According to
Word of God this film is set before Justice League Dark, and given this film ends with John in Los Angeles it might explain why he chose to leave England for America. - Removed from the Picture: The Ripple Effect Indicator version occurs at the end when Renee and Trish disappear from Chas' family picture.
- The Reveal: Beroul is none other than Nergal, the demon who abducted Astra.
- Sequel Hook: Nergal reveals that Astra is still alive in Hell, setting up a storyline for John to rescue her.
- Summon Bigger Fish: Essentially, John's logic to summon Nergal in this continuity.
- Trailers Always Lie: The press release made it sound like the animated show would be in the same continuity of the the live-action one. In reality it's in the continuity of DC Animated Movie Universe.
- Trailers Always Spoil: The very first released footage occurs very late in the show and reveals how Constantine defeats Beroul's enemies.
- Truer to the Text: Taking advantage of the lack of FFC regulations, the show is more in-line with the original comics. For starters Astra's situation being a victim of her abusive dad is much closer to the comics (albeit in a different way; here she's being used as unwitting victim for her dad's magic rituals, in the comics he was sexually assaulting her by forcing her to be part of orgies with his friends), than in the live-action show where she was just a little girl who had the misfortune to be possessed by a demon and John chose the wrong time to be a show off.
