10 Comic Book Characters Who Were Better On TV Than In Movies
4. John Constantine
As a standalone film, 2005's Constantine starring Keanu Reeves isn't half bad. It's not a masterpiece by any means, but it's an enjoyable enough supernatural flick in the vein of Angels & Demons. As an adaptation of Vertigo's Hellblazer comics, however, it completely misses the mark.
Despite being named John Constantine, the character Reeves plays in the film has very little in common DC's Liverpudlian street mage. Fortunately, Hellblazer fans hoping for a more faithful live-action depiction of the character got their wish with the 2014 premiere of NBC's Constantine, starring Matt Ryan.
Ryan absolutely owns the role of Constantine, expertly bringing a far more comics-accurate interpretation of the beloved Vertigo character to life. And even though his solo series was canceled after a single season, Ryan's take on Johnny has lived on, popping up again on Arrow before becoming a regular on DC's Legends of Tomorrow, the latter of which has further embraced the comics by depicting other aspects of the character that had previously gone unacknowledged in live-action, such as his bisexuality.
Having played Constantine across multiple TV shows over several years, not to mention voicing the character in various animated projects, it's rather safe to say that Matt Ryan is the definitive on-screen Hellblazer.