Matt Ryan To Star In NBC’s ‘Constantine’ Pilot

David "co-writer of Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Man of Steel, and Batman vs. Superman" S. Goyer's Constantine has found its NBC pilot star. Welsh actor Welsh actor Matt Ryan of Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior is reportedly finalizing a deal to star as the show's Hellblazing titular hero, John Constantine.

The news comes from Deadline, which writes:

John Constantine is described as a working-class Londoner with rakish good looks, scruffy blond hair, deadpan humor, and signature trench coat, who has been studying the dark arts since he was a teenager. When the daughter of a late friend is targeted by demons, Constantine steps in to save her.

Created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette and Jamie Delano, with his first interior story art by Rick Veitch and John Totleben, John Constantine debuted in DC’s The Saga Of The Swamp Thing in 1985. Constantine became a recurring character in the series before getting his own standalone Hellblazer title in 1988. Hellblazer ran for 25 years — 20 as part of DC’s mature readers imprint Vertigo — before its 300th and final issue was released in March of 2013 and a more PG-13 version of the character debuted in DC’s New 52.

It's unclear if any of the character's creators will receive royalties from the series, which was sold to NBC with penalty, meaning that if the pilot doesn’t make it to TV and become a full series, the network will have to pay writer/executive producers Daniel Cerone (The Mentalist) and Goyer a decent chunk of change.

The new pilot marks the second major live action adaptation of the character, following the 2005 Constantine film starring Keanu Reeves.

[Via ScreenCrush]