It's Been 10 Years Since NBC Crushed Fans' Hopes, Axing a Cult Fantasy Show After Only 1 Season

Have you seen an occult fantasy movie or TV series in recent years? If you have, then it is quite possible that it owes a lot to the Hellblazer comic book about John Constantine that DC Comics began publishing in 1988. For example, Supernatural referred to the adventures of Constantine, but traces of the detective-demonologist can be found wherever the smell of hellish fumes and pentagram paints waft.

The rude and dishonest detective John Constantine first appeared in Alan Moore's comic book series The Saga of Swamp Thing. In 2005, the long-running Hellblazer comic was brought to the big screen by director Francis Lawrence.

NBC's Constantine Was More Canon Than the 2005 Movie

In the movie Constantine, Keanu Reeves played the lead role, which caused outrage among many fans: in the original source, the main character is depicted as British and blond – his appearance was copied from the leader of the group The Police, Sting.

But nine years later, fans got a truly iconic-looking John. In the 2014 NBC series Constantine, the Brit was played by a Brit – Welsh actor Matt Ryan. Ryan's Constantine is much more canon than Reeves' Constantine, not only because of his accent and appearance, but also because of the way he carries himself with an accentuated, almost suicidal arrogance.

Constantine Had Small Chances of Surviving on NBC

Constantine had a decent number of viewers and good ratings on Rotten Tomatoes – 72% from critics and 76% from viewers. But the show only lasted one season. Why?

Let's be honest: Constantine was definitely picked up by the wrong network. At first, the protagonist was forbidden to smoke (later, he finally won the right to smoke on camera), and after the premiere, the general impression was that this was another typical procedural, more reminiscent in style of The CW projects, which was the reason why many viewers were disappointed with the project from the very first episode, which did not have the best effect on the ratings.

But if the network bosses let the creators have their way, as they did with Hannibal, for example, and instead of a boring procedural, they extend the storyline for the whole season, then Constantine would definitely get a longer life on the small screen.

Moreover, a character like John Constantine can only fully exist within the confines of an "adult" rating. Which, unfortunately, has no place on television, where numerous censorship and budget restrictions are strong. As a result, a promising show lasted only 13 episodes before being canceled.