With the fate of NBC's Constantine now resting in the hands of its writers, we would like to make some suggestions for season two pitches.
Showrunner Daniel Cerone recently stated that the network was waiting on these pitches to make a determination about whether the show actually gets a second season, so we feel that these recommendations from the Hellblazer comics, are a good place to start. After all, what better way to ensure a second season of the show than to take inspiration from the comic it's based on? This is something the first season didn't do enough of.
So take note, Constantine writers. Here are the stories we would like to see in season two of Constantine.
Newcastle
In the TV series, we know that events at Newcastle played an important part in Constantine's history, but we haven't yet seen them occur, even in flashbacks. In the comics, though, this particular storyline takes us back to when Constantine was younger, when he faced the demon Nergal for the first time, attempting to rescue a young girl, Astra, from hell. Although, we know in the series that things don't go well for Constantine or Astra, we think that seeing this take place in the series could give viewers even more of an emotional connection to the character and understand why he is the way he is.
In the first episode of the TV series, Constantine is recovering in a mental asylum. Newcastle is why. It's an important part of the character's story and would make for some very compelling TV.
Dangerous Habits
In this story arc, Constantine finds out that he has cancer. Not only that, but it's terminal. Of course, Constantine spends time wallowing in self-pity: staying drunk and wondering what his life has meant. However, no one expects Constantine to go down without a fight so when Satan shows up to collect his soul, John turns the tables and cons the lords of hell to cure him. The story ends with John literally giving everyone the finger.
There is one iffy part of including this story in the TV series: it came up in the Keanu Reeves Constantine film (which many Hellblazer fans choose to ignore). However, as the original story from the comics had a different conclusion, fans of Hellblazer would have no problem accepting this arc in the TV series.
The Family Man
In this story arc, Constantine isn't up against the supernatural, but a serial killer called The Family Man. This story also shows us how a younger Constantine's involvement in this case ends up with the murder of his father, as well as shows us Constantine's first murder when he catches the killer. There's a particularly suspenseful scene that would make for good TV viewing where Constantine tracks the killer through the streets of London.
The Golden Child
Viewers of TV's Constantine may not know this, but when Constantine's mother was pregnant with him, she was actually pregnant with twins. And Constantine's twin was supposedly a perfect child, meant to become the greatest magus of all time. However, the twin didn't survive. In The Golden Child story arc, though, we see what might have happened had Constantine's twin survived, rather than Constantine himself. Eventually, Constantine learns that a spirit manipulated all the major events in his life, including his cancer in the Dangerous Habits storyline.
Even if the TV series writers don't use the entire arc of this plot, just the idea of a spirit manipulating Constantine's life could make for a good overall plot device in season two.
Critical Mass
In this story arc, Constantine separates his darker self and puts it into a human body to once more escape being damned to Hell. This basically creates an evil version of himself. In this arc, we also learn more about Constantine's father, although we're not sure how much of what we see is real because the comic reveals these details while Constantine lies in a coma.
We think the idea of "good" Constantine lying in a coma while "bad" Constantine wreaks havoc could make for at least an interesting one-off story on the TV series.
[Photo Credit: DC Comics]
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