How 'Legends of Tomorrow Season 4 Could Tie Into 'Constantine'

While John Constantine insists that he is not technically a member of the crew of the Waverider, Matt Ryan has joined the cast of DC's Legends of Tomorrow full-time...and it seems likely that the actor will finally be able to resolve some of the elements that have been haunting him -- pun intended -- since NBC cancelled Constantine after just one season.

The clues are subtle, but they are there: it seems likely John's past will come back to haunt him, as the gates have been thrown wide open to beasts and magical fugitives of all kinds.

The first thing that happened is that in the season premiere, John pulled Sara Lance aside to tell her that "the darkness is rising" in regard to what the Legends had unknowingly set loose on the timeline at the end of season 3. That could just be a half-jokey reference to John's past, but whatever the case, it is certainly a reference.

In Constantine, a spike in supernatural activity -- and particularly in evil activity -- came as a result of the "Rising Darkness," a phenomenon that Constantine and his mates Chas, Zed, and Manny spent the season chasing.

Ultimately, in the season finale it was revealed that Manny, a fallen angel, was behind it all, although only the audience learned this, not Constantine.

In the time since Constantine was on the air, Ryan has played the character several more times -- on Arrow and Legends as well as in animated form for Justice League Dark and Constantine. During that time, Ryan has repeatedly expressed interest in bringing some kind of resolution to Constantine's own story -- something that could plausibly happen this season.

Last year, Mallus was fixated on the Legends because both Vixen and Amaya had totems, and the only way for Mallus to escape his prison as to unite all of the totems. This year, the Legends themselves are on a case-of-the-week kind of thing, but what seems to be building as a season-long story is something big, powerful, and evil chasing after John Constantine.

So far, he has not clued in the audience or the Legends as to what might be hunting him, but various evil entities have warned him that he has someone on his tail.

In a recent interview, Legends showrunner Phil Klemmer revealed that Constantine's role in the new season will have quite a bit of ambiguity surrounding it, with good reason.

"The reason we held back on making him a Legend is we always wanted to keep that shroud of mystery around him," Klemmer explained. "We didn't want to have him acclimate ever to being integrated with the team... [We] selfishly wanted to create some new mystery around him for our show....He was in a pretty good spot, relatively for Constantine, but we wanted him to be darker, more troubled, more mysterious. That's something for the audience to have to unravel: What happened to Constantine during the off-season and why has he changed?"

"Wherever John goes, there’s conflict." Ryan told ComicBook.com over the summer. "He brings his bag of tricks, but he also brings his emotional baggage with him. And he’s someone who, as we know, will sacrifice his best friend for the greater good. So he has his own motives and his own goals. So to bring him into this world, it’s like ‘What happens?’ And that’s the most interesting thing about doing this character in this context."

An interesting question is whether the darkness that is rising post-Mallus is the same darkness that was rising (or connected to it) from Constantine.

An even more interesting approach would be to see a demon Constantine battled on his own show -- or perhaps even Manny -- as the one who is chasing Constantine and the Legends this time around.

Are you excited to see what mystery surrounds Constantine in Legends of Tomorrow Season 4? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

DC's Legends of Tomorrow airs on Monday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT, following episodes of Arrow on The CW.

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