In a feat of magic, the CW managed to resurrect not one but two characters in last night’s episode of Arrow. Last night on Arrow, after realizing Sara Lance/Black Canary (Caity Lotz) had lost her soul in an attempt to bring her back from the dead, Oliver Queen/Green Arrow (Stephen Amell) called in a special favor from the one person in the DC Universe who could go to hell and back, John Constantine (Matt Ryan).
Constantine, based on DC Comics’ Hellblazer series, premiered last fall on NBC (not CW), but after not reaching the expected ratings, the show was cancelled. The series’ first and only season ran for 13 episodes and ended in February.
The show’s fans were hopeful they might see more of the supernatural detective and protested Constantine‘s cancellation. They took to the internet and tried to beat the ratings to bring back their favorite British demon hunter, hoping another network or even Netflix would pick up the series. But in June executive producer Daniel Cerone announced that the show would not be getting a second chance.
Supposedly that was the end. The Constantine fandom thought there would be no more of the sarcastic, trench coat-wearing hellblazer, but then the CW announced back on Aug. 11 that TV had not seen the last of John Constantine and he would be making a special appearance in season 4 of Arrow.
Since the spin-off of Flash last year and Legends of Tomorrow premiering this year, the CW has become the primary home of DC Comics universe characters as well as crossovers. With the introduction of mysticism and the occult in season 4 of Arrow, it only makes sense that the demon hunter would be coming to Star City.
Matt Ryan’s reprisal of John Constantine in last night’s episode did not disappoint. The character fit seamlessly into the story-line and helped the show transition into the supernatural realm. Even though NBC cancelled Constantine because of low ratings, the title character’s special appearance actually managed to boost Arrow‘s ratings for last night’s episode. Last night’s ratings improved from the previous week by 10% and were the highest they had been since the season 4 premier.
But there is no plan in the works to keep Constantine as a reoccurring character. In an interview with Deadline, Arrow executive producer Marc Guggenheim explains they knew from the start that Constantine would be in Star City for one night only.
While we may have enjoyed Constantine’s cockiness and rugged charm for the last time, his guest appearance only goes to show how the writers and producers of Arrow will go to the ends of the earth for their fans. Literally.