Before the Constantine show kicks off, a gentle reminder:
John Constantine came first.
John Constantine was created in 1985 as a supporting character, and then was used as the central character in Hellblazer which hit the stands in 1988 under DC Comics, and then was released as a Vertigo title in 1993. Hellblazer was published continuously for 30 years until 2013, with 300 issues, when it was split off into a DC Universe comic book, Constantine. Hellblazer is one of the most well-loved, well-known and most influential comic books in the modern era. Constantine was recently voted the third most popular comic book character of all time, after Batman and Superman. This is not some arcane little comic book with a niche little lead character.
The movie Constantine, based on Hellblazer, was released in 2005, years before Castiel was created.
Castiel was DIRECTLY, specifically and deliberately modeled on John Constantine. In Misha Collins’ direct quote: ““Kripke wanted to base the look of the character on the comic book character ‘Constantine’.”
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In fact, Kripke tried to acquire the license to use the actual character of Constantine in the show. He was not allowed to do this, so he created Castiel instead.
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Please do not accuse this show Constantine of ripping off the trenchcoat, white shirt and tie from Castiel. Do not do it. You will only make yourself seem ignorant.