Attention: SPOILERS for the Sandman
The way Joanna Constantine’s (Jenna Coleman) last name is pronounced in “The Sandman” may seem strange, but there is a reason why it differs from how viewers are used to hearing “Constantine.” “The Sandman,” executive produced by Neil Gaiman, is a long-awaited adaptation of his favorite DC Comics graphic novels. Coleman’s Joanna Constantine joins Tom Sturridge, who stars in The Dream of the Infinite, also known as the Sandman, and they are joined by a host of eclectic supernatural beings such as the Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook), Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) and Lucifer. Morningstar (Gwendoline Christie).
Joanna Constantine is a character from the Sandman comics, but most viewers are familiar with John Constantine, who appeared in his own 2005 film starring Keanu Reeves, his own NBC series and in DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, where Constantine (played by Matt Ryan)) became the main character and a member of teams of superhero losers Arrowverse. In The Sandman comics, Joanna is John’s ancestor who met Dream in the 1700s and helped him with a dangerous mission during the French Revolution. However, it is John who is met by Morpheus and helps him recover the stolen sandbag of dreams in the third issue of The Sandman. Joanna replaces John Constantine in the Netflix series The Sandman, and she takes on his ghostly past, although Joanna is also a “modernized” version of John in the series, as she has powerful friends that he didn’t have.: Joanna begins “The Sandman” as the queen and the royal family. personal exorcist. But apart from their different genders, Joanna Constantine strangely pronounces her last name differently from John.
Related: The Infinite Family Tree: Explaining All the Siblings’ Dreams
In truth, Joanna Constantine (pronounced Constant-TYNE) is actually the correct pronunciation of “Constantine”. The North American pronunciation of Con-stan-TEEN has penetrated popular culture, starting with the Keanu Reeves film, which used the pronunciation of Con-stan-TEEN. (Unsurprisingly, since Reeves played the American version of John Constantine.) Compounding the confusion, but playing to a North American audience, Matt Ryan’s John continued to pronounce his surname as a TEENAGE Constant and even corrected Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis), who said it as a Constant TYNE during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. But Con-stan-TYNE is the correct British way to say “Constantine”, and this is the pronunciation Alan Moore had in mind when he created John Constantine on the pages of Swamp Thing. Joanna Konstantin in “The Sandman” simply restores the original and correct way to pronounce her last name for a global Netflix audience.
John Constantine in the Sandman? Will he show up?
Joanna Constantine took John’s place in The Sandman because John Constantine’s character rights are being held up elsewhere. The Bad Robot series from HBO Max and J.J. Abrams has a Dark Justice League TV project starring John Constantine, which is in development, and the character has just enjoyed an incredibly popular version that Matt Ryan played in 2015-2021 on NBC and the CW. Gaiman and executive producer Allan Heinberg simply replaced John with Joanna Constantine in the modern history of The Sandman, but intriguingly, Jenna Coleman also plays her ancestor, Lady Joanna Constantine, in episodes of The Sandman set in the 18th century. With Joanna set as Constantine in Netflix’s The Sandman, don’t expect any version of John Constantine to appear in the future.
Joanna turns out to be a better backdrop for “Dream in the Sandman” than John. The woman Konstantin is the first person whom Morpheus calls upon to help him recover the stolen symbols of office, a ruby, a helmet and a bag with the magic sand of dreams. But Joanna’s secret torment affects Dream in a way that meeting John Constantine does not affect him in The Sandman comics, and helping Joanna when she helps him becomes the first step in Morpheus’ efforts to better understand the people and mortals he serves. Meanwhile, no one mispronounces “Konstantin” in “The Sandman,” and the Netflix show may also be the first step toward viewers finally pronouncing the surname correctly as Con-stan-TYNE.
