Constantine Slayed By the Axe of Cancellation?
April 14, 2015Is NBC’s Constantine at the end of the line?
The possible cancellation of the show was first reported by Buzzfeed’s Kate Arthur and has yet to be confirmed by the network, but the ax has been dangling over the shows head for some time now. In fact, there was even a #SaveConstantine campaign on Twitter that actor Matt Ryan (who plays John Constantine) participated in to try and garner more attention to the show.
#Constantine fans: I factchecked my renewals/cancellations/bubble post with each network. http://t.co/VHllpQqirp pic.twitter.com/JJdqWedi7B
— Kate Aurthur (@KateAurthur) April 14, 2015
It was clear early on that the show was in trouble as many complained that it didn’t stay true to the source material (that is inherently more violent than the show could ever imagine to be on NBC) and that the adaptation of the comics was not done very well. Despite this, the fans that did enjoy the show could not be swayed and used social media to show their support for both the character and the show.
Fans that may have felt some sense of relief when news that Constantine may head to SyFy were saddened to find out that the rumor was just that. While it is possible that another network could swoop in and save the exorcist, demonologist and master of the dark arts, the poor network ratings reported by NBC may be enough to scare the executives away from picking up the show.
With a devoted fan base, Constantine still couldn’t match or surpass the current television giants such as Arrow, Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD or even Gotham and fans have begun to wonder if perhaps the show should have been taken to Netflix, where competitor Marvel is finding success in the release of the first season of Daredevil.
One thing is for sure: not everyone is ready to say goodbye to Constantine and while this isn’t a final decision (NBC should be announcing cancellations closer the end of April), it looks clear that John Constantine won’t make it to see a second season. What do you think? Is this potential cancellation a mistake by NBC? Let us know in the comments!
UPDATE
Constantine showrunner Daniel Cerone has made the following statement to ComicBook.com
I just received confirmation from the corporate offices at NBC. I was assured that Constantine has not been canceled and our pitch meeting to discuss a potential second season remains on the books. By the way, this is a pitch meeting involving the president of Warner Bros and and the entertainment heads of NBC. Nobody at this incredibly busy time of the development season has time to waste taking pointless meetings.
Now, is it fair to say that Constantine is a long shot? Sure, that’s fair to say. While we marginally improved a tough time slot for NBC, we’re a very expensive show to produce. A lot of NBC’s decision making will not doubt hinge on their new pilots and how they feel those new shows would fare as a companion piece to Grimm, versus a second season of Constantine.
