One of the more ambitious projects out there in television land is the up and coming take of ‘Constantine’ by NBC and we’ve found out a slew of new pieces of information that fans of the book are going to love (or hate) hearing about! What really seems to be working so far is the use of Matt Ryan as the lead character. So, what new have we found out about the show you may be asking? Well, thanks to  Shock Till Ya Drop, here’s the latest 411.

First up we’re going to be seeing a big change in locations and the show will take place, not in London but in New York City. Honestly this shouldn’t be too much of a surprise as they did the same thing with ‘Elementary’ and it worked out quite well for them there. This was previously rumored to be the case but this is the first confirmation that this will be the direction that they are going.

Next is John’s mental state of being. Apparently his introduction will include him having voluntarily checked himself into a psychiatric clinic. After he lost a 9-year-old girl to a demon who dragged her soul into Hell right in front of him, he is out of sorts. It is what is driving him to do good, but he is in recovery (more tones of ‘Elementary’ can be seen here) and six months later he checks himself out of the hospital. After being discharged, things in the supernatural realm aren’t quite the way they were when he left them.

Another ‘Elementary’ rif (while being true to the written character) is that John is a wise-ass. On his business card you’ll find “Exorcist, Demonologist and Master of the Dark Arts,” though that master part isn’t quite right as he tells his doctor. He really thinks it should read as “petty dabbler” and won’t talk much about his past and uses wry humor to avoid emotions. Seriously it’s like they are re-casting Shurlock here, which don’t get me wrong, I’m perfectly OK with.

One thing fans won’t be happy about right away is on John’s appearance (and the above promo image is lying to you). He won’t be sporting his infamous trenchcoat right off the bat. It will show up in time but there will need to be some patience before he dons it.

Since John hates angels, it will be fun as we watch his interaction with Manny, an angel assigned to help ease John’s soul into damnation.

We know previously how he will end up meeting the female lead, Liv Parsons. Jasper, her father, is an old friend of John’s. What we didn’t know is that John owned Jasper a debt and when he passed, so now feels he owes that debt to Liv. More details on her is that she works at a car rental agency and gets caught up with John as something from the occult goes after her.

We’re also going to be introduced to a Cuban who can see the future in his dreams known as Papa Midnite. The visions of the future are slowly driving him insane so to avoid them he has put himself in a bad place and is using a lots of cocaine to keep himself awake as long as possible and it is clearly taking its tole on his body.

We will end up meeting John’s driver Chaz and he will be a tall, sensitive, quiet type yet who also knows about the supernatural but isn’t quite up to Constantine’s level..

Right off the bat it looks like the show plans on dropping us into the action in the pilot as it will include: possessions, ghosts (which Liv can see), and demons. The plan for the story is to do a good job at not losing its audience in the mythology while giving them enough details to understand what is happening. What we’ll also find is that Liv is our conduit to John’s world of rituals, pendants, black magic and more so she’ll be vital to understanding his character. (Sort of how Watson… in ‘Elementary’…. Ahem)

This will lead to a base for a a long-lasting partnership between Liv and John (and thus the series) as now that she’s aware of the supernatural world she wants to use her knowledge and power to help others which John will most likely resist at first.

What do you think of the new details of the plot and the show? Do they have you excited for more? I wasn’t sure how I would feel about them being able to pull this off but the latest details seem as if they might be stepping into the right direction.

Synopsis:

‘Constantine’ follows enigmatic and irreverent Liverpool con-man-turned-occult-detective John Constantine, who is reluctantly thrust into the role of defending our world against dark forces from beyond.