Some confusion with the casting regarding Netflix’s “Sandman” has led many to wonder how Lady Joanna Constantine is related to John Constantine. The characters of John Constantine and Joanna Constantine are two different beings separated by three centuries, but united by the same family curse. This moment was confused by the decision to replace John Constantine in the Netflix series “The Sandman” with a spinning wheel named Joanna Constantine, while initially Lady Joanna Constantine was also played by the same actor.
John Constantine was originally created by Alan Moore, Stephen R. Bissett, John Totleben and Rick Veitch as a supporting character for Swamp Thing in 1985. The warlock from the working class proved popular and soon in 1988 received a solo series Hellblazer. A year later, author Neil Gaiman gave John Constantine the lead role in the opening arc of The Sandman and created John’s ancestor, Lady Joanna Constantine, with artists Michael Zulli and Steve Parkhouse. Originally appearing in a cameo role in the Dollhouse story arc, Lady Joanna would later play a central role in Sandman #29, Thermidor, helping the King of Dreams with a personal case during the French Revolution.
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The exact family relationship between John Constantine and Lady Joanna has never been established. However, later comics confirmed that one Constantine from the generation dating back to Merlin’s time is blessed with the gift of magic, but cursed to see everyone they love fall victim to the forces of darkness. This rather simple story has been muddled by casting announcements for the Netflix adaptation of “The Sandman” and the casting of Jenna Coleman for the role of two different characters named Joanna Constantine.
Why John Constantine is not in the series “The Sandman”
When it was first announced in April 2021 that Jenna Coleman would play Joanna Constantine, those who believed that the casting was an arbitrary attempt to diversify the cast of the Netflix series “The Sandman” by replacing John Constantine with a woman of the same name were outraged. However, those who knew more about the original comic knew that Coleman had been cast as John Constantine’s ancestor, Lady Joanna Constantine. However, legal problems arose, because of which it was impossible to use John Constantine in the show. This led to The Sandman showrunners solving the problem by choosing Coleman twice as a new character named Joanna Constantine, who shared the identity of John Constantine and the name of the original Lady Constantine.
It is assumed that the rights to the character of John Constantine are currently tied to the Constantine reboot series, which is currently in preparation for HBO Max J. Production company Abrams Bad Robot. While Warner Bros. softened its previous policy by not allowing more than one living incarnation of DC Comics characters to exist at the same time, from a logistical point of view, there may have been more problems than it was worth bringing in John Constantine just to appear in one episode. . Although this change may worry some Hellblazer readers who were hoping to see Arrowverse actor Matt Ryan recreating the role once again, preliminary reviews and previews of Netflix’s “Sandman” suggest that Joanna Constantine, played by Jenna Coleman, is cut from the same fabric as the original, and that her performance will satisfy viewers of both series.
