Sandman: Netflix’s ‘Johanna’ Constantine Confusion & Backlash Explained

A recent casting announcement for Netflix’s The Sandman series sparked controversy, as complaints arose that the character of John Constantine had been gender-flipped. However, these complaints were based on a lack of knowledge and used by some to promote the fallacy that Netflix was going against the original vision of author Neil Gaiman in their efforts to diversify the cast. Ignoring that the casting was made with Gaiman’s approval, the Lady Johanna Constantine character at the center of the controversy is a different character than John Constantine and a well-established figure in the Sandman canon. Unfortunately, this simple explanation was muddled after it was later confirmed that actress Jenna Coleman would be playing both Lady Constantine and a character named Joanna Constantine, who would be unique to the Netflix series.

Netflix’s adaptation of The Sandman has been a source of no small controversy, in part due to the creative decision to change the apparent gender and race of many key characters. Chief among these was the casting of Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer, the fallen angel who rules Hell. However, in the cosmology of The Sandman (and the larger Vertigo Comics universe), angels lack physical gender and genitals, no matter how they may choose to present themselves to others. Also, given that cosmic beings such as gods and the Endless tend to appear as what mortals expect, there is no logical reason why The Sandman‘s showrunners should have been limited by race and gender in their casting decisions since the original comics were incredibly diverse and LGBTQ+ friendly even by today’s standards.

Ignoring the confusion spread by online trolls and faux-fans, it is easy to see why the announcement that Jenna Coleman had been cast as Lady Johanna Constantine might lead some to believe she was a gender-flipped John Constantine, given other casting changes in Netflix’s The Sandman. However, Lady Johanna is a different character, being related to, but distinct from, the infamous Master of the Dark Arts. It would be foolish, however, to dismiss her as a mere female Constantine, as she’s far more dangerous and capable than John Constantine in many respects.

Johanna’s Origin & Relationship To John Constantine Explained

Lady Johanna Constantine is an ancestor of the more well-known John Constantine. Like her descendant, she is implied to have killed her own twin in the womb. She was also an inheritor of the Constantine family curse, which grants one Constantine in a generation a knack for magic at the cost of losing everyone they ever truly loved to the forces of darkness before their own soul is forever damned to Hell.

First appearing in The Sandman #13 and created by Neil Gaiman and artist Michael Zulli, Lady Johanna Constantine was born on October 25, 1760. The only surviving child of Lord George and Lady Harriet Constantine, Johanna was orphaned as a teenager after her parents were convicted of treason against King George III of England. This would be the first of many hardships born of ill fortune that Johanna would face over the course of her long life. The details of Johanna’s youth have gone largely unchronicled, beyond her making reference to knowing well from firsthand experience that “bad things happen to little girls on the streets of London.“

In 1785, Johanna was contacted by agents of King George III, who had need of a special agent to retrieve a magical artifact. They said that Johanna had a reputation as “a woman of uncommon wit and exceptional resourcefulness” with “a knack for the impossible.” More importantly, she could be counted on to be discreet. Johanna agreed to help the Crown in exchange for a restoration of her royal title and a yearly allotment of £5000. She succeeded, and was once again the Lady Constantine, with an estate in the town of Wych Cross that she named Fawney Rig, after a classic confidence game.

Johanna Constantine’s Powers & Abilities Explained

Like John Constantine, Johanna Constantine is a magician, albeit not a truly powerful one. While she knows a number of rituals and can fashion protective circles against demons and other supernatural creatures, Johanna prefers to rely upon her reputation and theatrics over true magic, which tends to be far less reliable than playing on people’s expectations. In this, she is very much like her descendant, who, while having some degree of magical talent, prefers to leave people guessing as to just how powerful he truly is, so that dangerous magicians dismiss him as a con artist who dabbles in petty hedge wizardry.

While Johanna seems less adept than John in using magic, based on what few stories she’s been in, she is far better trained than him in most other respects. Johanna was said to be a protégé of Chevalier d’Éon, a real-life French diplomat and spy who once infiltrated the court of Empress Elizabeth of Russia by posing as a woman for 33 years. It was under d’Éon’s tutelage that Johanna became a master of disguise and an expert at espionage, apparently serving the Royal family for many years as a secret agent akin to James Bond, even after reclaiming her title.

How Johanna Constantine Fits Into The Sandman Series

While her history would be explored in the Hellblazer Special: Lady Constantine miniseries and the Sandman spinoff The Dreaming, Johanna Constantine was originally created for The Sandman and is best known for her appearances in that series. She first appeared in The Sandman #13 as an adversary to the Sandman, a.k.a. Dream of the Endless, attempting to ambush him during his once-in-a-century meeting with the immortal Hob Gadling, laboring under the mistaken impression that they were the Devil and the Wandering Jew respectively. This was later revealed to be due to a prophecy Johanna had been given in which she was told that her hunting the Devil and the Wandering Jew would lead her to her heart’s greatest desire.

The prophecy proved true, however, as Dream remembered the remarkable young woman and sought her out five years later in 1794 when he had need of a mortal agent. In The Sandman #29, Dream promised Johanna whatever it was in his power to give her in exchange for her aid in a sensitive matter. Precisely what prize Johanna earned for her aid was never revealed, but she was buried in a place of honor on the Greek island of Naxos near the Temple of Orpheus after her death on her 99th birthday in 1859. Centuries later, John Constantine would be called upon to fulfill a similar function, aiding Dream of the Endless in the search for his stolen pouch of magical sand.

Why Jenna Coleman Is Now Playing Lady Johanna Constantine and Joanna Constantine

After the initial announcement that Jenna Coleman (perhaps most famous for playing Clara Oswin Oswald on Doctor Who) would be playing Lady Johanna Constantine, it was later confirmed that the original misunderstanding had proved prophetic. Now Coleman is slated to play both the Lady Johanna and a female version of John Constantine named Joanna Constantine. In a post on his personal Twitter account, Neil Gaiman explained that John Constantine’s absence from Netflix’s The Sandman had nothing to do with diversifying the cast and everything to do with the theatrical convention that it was tidier to have the two related roles played by a single actor.

Gaiman also discussed how the decision to have Coleman play both roles did allow them to avoid dealing with the complications caused by using John Constantine for a single-episode cameo. These complications stem from the character rights for John Constantine currently being tied up by the Constantine reboot currently being produced for HBO Max by J.J. Abrams. The same rights issues recently led to John Constantine’s character, long played by actor Matt Ryan, exiting the Arrowverse in anticipation of Legends of Tomorrow season 7. While fans of Ryan’s take on Constantine were disappointed that he would not be recreating the role for Netflix’s The Sandman, it seems highly unlikely that Jenna Coleman will disappoint in putting her own spin on the infamous warlock.

About The Author

Matt Morrison
(1835 Articles Published)

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Matt Morrison has been writing about comics since before the word
“blogging” was coined. He got his start writing for the
legendary DC Comics digital fanzine Fanzing,
before receiving his own column, The Mount. Since then he has gone on
to write for over a dozen websites, including 411
Mania, Comics
Nexus and The Cult of Nobody. He holds both an MS in Information
Science from the University of North Texas and a BFA from the
University of Texas at Arlington. Known as a font of comic book
history trivia, he has delivered lectures on the history of American
Comic Books, Japanese Manga, Doctor Who, and Cosplay at over a dozen conventions
and served as an Expert In-Residence for a course on Graphic Novels
for Librarians at the University of North Texas. In addition to his
work for Screen Rant, Matt is currently the Editor In Chief of
Kabooooom.com and writes reviews for No
Flying, No Tights – a graphic literature and anime review site
aimed at teachers and librarians. He also maintains a personal blog –
My Geeky Geeky Ways –
which hosts his extensive episode guide for the television series
making up The Arrowverse as well as his
comedic Let’s Play videos. What little spare time he has is
devoted towards acting, role-playing, movie-riffing and sarcasm. You
can follow his adventures on Twitter, @GeekyGeekyWays.

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