Walken Through Hell: A Constantine That Could’ve Been

There are casting ideas that feel obvious. Then there are the ones that feel so bizarrely perfect, you start to wonder why they never happened. This is one of those.

I stumbled across this gritty fan artwork (see below) that imagined a young Christopher Walken as John Constantine—the chain-smoking, demon-slaying antihero from DC's Hellblazer. And ever since, I haven’t been able to shake the thought: Why didn’t this actually happen?

Constantine is a complex character. A working-class magician with one foot in Hell and the other on the streets of London, he’s equal parts cynic, trickster, and tortured soul. It’s a role that demands presence—the kind of presence that doesn’t just fill a room, it warps it.

Enter: Walken.

A Face Made for the Supernatural

Back in the ‘80s, Christopher Walken wasn’t just acting—he was haunting the screen. With his hypnotic stare, unpredictable rhythm, and unsettling calm, he turned every role into something... otherworldly. His performance in David Cronenberg’s The Dead Zone (1983) is a perfect example.

As Johnny Smith, Walken plays a man cursed with psychic visions after a coma. It's a character burdened by knowledge and moral consequence—sound familiar? The eerie stillness he brought to that role could’ve translated beautifully into Constantine’s world of ghosts, demons, and personal damnation.

Walken wouldn’t have just played Constantine—he’d have inhabited him. That unplaceable accent. That deliberate cadence. That strange blend of charisma and menace. You wouldn't be able to look away… even when you wanted to.

A Constantine Unlike Any Other

We’ve had great takes on the character. Keanu Reeves brought a sleek, Americanized Constantine to the big screen in 2005—moody and stylized, with a noir flair. Matt Ryan, meanwhile, gave fans the comic-faithful version, complete with the trench coat, the accent, and the biting wit.

But Walken? Walken would’ve given us a version of Constantine that felt less like a hero and more like a ghost himself—a man who knows too much and smiles too little. He wouldn’t need flashy effects or dramatic monologues. Just a stare, a pause, and a cigarette would do the job.

It would’ve been something unforgettable. Maybe even unsettling.

Final Thoughts

In a multiverse full of endless cinematic timelines, maybe there's one where Christopher Walken was John Constantine. Maybe he lit a cigarette with a smirk, whispered something cryptic to Lucifer, and walked off into the fog like a man who’s already seen the end of everything.

We didn’t get that version of Constantine. But this artwork—and the eerie perfection of the idea—lets us imagine it. And sometimes, that’s just enough to haunt us.

💬 What do you think?

Could Walken have pulled it off? Or would it have been too much chaos for one film to handle?

Drop your thoughts, favorite Constantine actors, or dream fan-casts in the comments.