NBC censors Constantine’s cigarettes, but is fine with scenes of murder & demonic possession.
NBC censors Constantine’s cigarettes, but is fine with scenes of murder & demonic possession.:
The original Hellblazer comics were aimed squarely at an adult audience, and were chock full of sex, violence, and adult storylines. But oddly enough, the one thing that’s been forbidden from the TV adaptation is… smoking.
“You can’t smoke on network,” Constantine director Neil Marshall told Collider this weekend. “That’s one of his character traits. We’re working around that. We’re trying to get aspects of it in there as much as possible. We’ll see.”
Smoking isn’t just an iconic aspect of John Constantine’s character, it also has a significant effect on his life story. After discovering that he has terminal lung cancer while he’s still in his 30s, he sells his soul to two rival lords of Hell. This resulted in them curing his illness, because his death would lead to them having to start a war over his soul. Constantine’s smoking was also a major part of the Keanu Reeves movie, which portrayed the habit in a similarly negative light.
