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Adapting a work as influential as The Sandman is never an easy task. The Netflix series even had direct input from author and creator Neil Gaiman himself, so the show wouldn’t wander far from the source material. Naturally what you see on a screen will always be different from what you read on a comic book, precisely for the reason that, well, the story is not only in your imagination anymore. So there are always bound to be some key aspects from one that don’t necessarily translate to the other.
One of the biggest changes made from the comics to the show, however, involved a character being completely gender-flipped: John Constantine became Johanna Constantine, portrayed by Jenna Coleman. As one can imagine in this year of our Lord 2022, there are those who were livid about this, just because. But, in all honesty, is this really a valid point to be angry about? Did this new version of Constantine live up to the original? Did the gender-flip pay off? In a very simple and objective answer, we can safely say that yes, it did.
Johanna Constantine was introduced in the second episode of the show, “Imperfect Hosts,” as Dream (Tom Sturridge) was searching for his lost tools. After consulting with The Fates (Nina Wadia, Souad Faress and Dinita Gohil), they point him to the Waking World, in the direction of Johanna, saying one his tools, his sand pouch, was sold to her. As she was a relative of someone he knew a few centuries ago, the odds seemed to be in Dream’s favor. But things are never easy for the Dreamlord.
It was on the third episode, “Dream a Little Dream of Me,” that Johanna really showed us what she is all about. Warned by Mad Hettie (Clare Higgins) that the Dreamlord was back, she waved any concerns off, in a typical Constantine gesture. Unbeknownst to her, it was Dream himself she passed by seconds after in her way to a church to perform an exorcism. The case: a princess of the Royal Family (Hannah van der Westhuysen) wanted to marry her soccer player boyfriend (Stephen Odubola). Reverend Erica (Meera Syal) believed the princess to be possessed by a demon, but, in fact, it was her betrothed who was hosting a demon in his body. The exorcism itself went as one would expect for those familiar with Constantine: she cleverly tried to marry the haunted couple, making them recite a spell as if they were wedding vows.
The demon was exorcised, everyone was safe, and Johanna met Dream and Mad Hettie outside, where he inquired about his leather pouch. She told him she had it once, but had no idea what happened to it and hadn’t seen it in a while. Eventually, Dream got her to remember what happened to the pouch, which now was in possession of Johanna’s ex-girlfriend, Rachel (Eleanor Fanyika). She naturally didn’t want to visit her ex, seeing as they didn’t part on the best of terms. In fact, they technically didn’t even break up, as Johanna simply went out one day and never returned. Such a Constantine thing to do, guess they are all the same.
She did return at Dream’s request, though, only to find out that Rachel had been using the pouch to the point of addiction. Such tools aren’t meant for human use, so she would die if parted from it. Heartbroken, Johanna asks Dream to do something about it and help Rachel any way he can. Another Constantine trait, the heart of gold hidden deep beneath thick layers of swag and a devil-may-care attitude. Unfortunately, the best the Dreamlord could do was grant Rachel a peaceful death. Afterwards, the necromancer and the Lord of Dreams part ways on good terms, each having made a new ally.
As we can see, the character of Constantine is all there, in essence, and actors often say that most of their work is made easier by the writing, which, in this case, is pretty darn accurate. But what makes Johanna as good a Constantine as John is the person behind the character, Jenna Coleman. She does a great job in the role — one that was obviously an easy target for trolls throughout the internet — and tackled it head on.
Her work goes beyond just portraying what a female John Constantine would be like and, instead, creates a whole identity as Johanna for this new version. Of course, the name Constantine is a heavy one, and Johanna not displaying certain traits of the classic character wouldn’t feel true to The Sandman‘s story, so there is only so much she could do to build a new iteration of Constantine. As seen earlier, she still has that same too-cool-for-school attitude, quick thinking, sharp tongue and that tendency to run away from her issues.
But Johanna is her own character. A classier and wittier one, something that those who follow Jenna Coleman’s work could hardly imagine her in. Known especially for her work as Clara Oswald in Doctor Who, we often picture her in either quirkier roles, or more dramatic ones. Here, she gets to do something completely different. While John is always wearing that old and ragged trench coat, Johanna’s is pristine, giving her a classy air that her male counterpart could never pull of. While John walks and talks in a carefully smug way, Johanna carries herself with an imposing and self-important posture, almost proud of who she is. But we know that, beneath that beautiful white coat, she is just as reckless as any Constantine that came before her, both on that version ofThe Sandman story an off.
The only argument one could try to use to criticize the gender-flipping of Constantine is the fact that, three episodes after meeting Johanna, we get to see another character with literally the same name and actress. In “The Sound Of Her Wings,” we meet the Johanna Constantine that is also present in the original Sandman comics, this one a woman from the start. For first time viewers, that may have been a bit confusing, as they are both portrayed by the same actress (Coleman) and have the same name. Those who are versed in The Sandman lore know who is who, but for first-time viewers, that might give the impression that they are the same Johanna Constantine, even though they are not.
Of course, that has absolutely nothing to do with Jenna Coleman or her portrayal of Johanna Constantine, which stands very well on its own two legs throughout the show. She may have enraged a few purists who use this as a way to hide their sexism, but, in the end the genderflipping of the Constantine character easily pays off, and hopefully we’ll get to see more of this Johanna in future Sandman seasons.
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