Constantine Ending Explained (In Detail)

Summary

• The central theme of Constantine is the supernatural underworld and the mystery surrounding Isabel Dodson’s suicide.
• John Constantine, a demonologist and exorcist, helps Angela uncover the truth and stop Mammon’s arrival on Earth.
• The story involves intricate supernatural elements, including the need for a psychic vessel, a divine being, and a spiritual weapon to ensure Mammon’s arrival.

2005’s Constantine has a complex ending, with a plot twist that deserves deeper analysis as talk about Constantine 2 swirls. The DC Comics adaptation stars Keanu Reeves as John Constantine, aka Hellblazer, an occult detective and sorcerer who spends his days fighting demons, spirits, and other supernatural elements in a constant struggle between Earth, Heaven, and Hell. The plot of Constantine, like its source material, involves the supernatural underworld. After Isabel Dodson (Rachel Weisz) takes her own life, her twin sister, Angela (also Weisz), seeks answers, eventually enlisting Constantine to help her find them.

Constantine unravels the mystery of why Isabel died and the greater danger her passing presents, namely the coming of Lucifer’s son, Mammon (Weisz), who seeks to rule over Earth. As with most supernatural beings, there are ritualistic needs to ensure Mammon’s arrival: the help of a divine being (the Angel Gabriel), a psychic vessel (Isabel or Angela), and a spiritual weapon (The Spear of Destiny). After Angela is kidnapped and nearly overtaken by Mammon with the help of Gabriel (Tilda Swinton), Constantine cleverly finds a way toward salvation — which proves to be no easy feat.

Isabel Killed Herself To Stop Mammon

The Death Of Angela’s Twin Started The Story

At the beginning of Constantine, Isabel kills herself by jumping off the roof of the psychiatric hospital where she’s been staying. The motive behind her suicide remains a mystery throughout much of the movie. Eventually, it’s explained that Mammon, the son of Lucifer, wants to leave Hell and establish a kingdom on Earth. He can only do this through a powerful psychic like Isabel. To stop Mammon from using her as his vessel, she takes her own life.

Due to her Catholic beliefs, Isabel goes to Hell for death by suicide, even though she dies to stop a greater evil. With the help of Constantine, Angela attempts to uncover this mystery, realizing she also possesses psychic abilities, which Constantine helps release. The problem is that it immediately attracts Mammon to Angela, as she shares the twin connection with Isabel, picking up right where he left off in his attempt to come to Earth before Isabel’s death.

The Spear Of Destiny Is A Powerful Religious Artifact

Gabriel Needs It To Bring Mammon To Earth

In Christianity, the Spear of Destiny, also known as the Holy Lance, is an actual religious relic. The Bible describes it as the spear used by a Roman soldier to stab Jesus while he was being crucified, ensuring that he was dead. The real Spear of Destiny is currently displayed in the Imperial Treasury at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. During World War II, the Nazis took the artifact. Although it was later officially returned, many believe the object on display is a forgery, suggesting the authentic Spear of Destiny is lost or hidden.

Gabriel needs the Spear of Destiny because it is a divine object.

In Constantine, the “true” Spear of Destiny is dug up by a man (Jesse Ramirez) under an abandoned Mexican church wrapped in a Nazi flag. The man falls into a trance and takes it to Los Angeles, where Gabriel can perform the ceremony bringing Mammon to Earth. Gabriel needs the Spear of Destiny because it is a divine object (as it has the blood of Christ on it), which can “kill” Angela and bring Mammon to Earth through her body. It’s a MacGuffin, serving as a piece of the puzzle to complete the ceremony.

Why Gabriel Was Trying To Unleash Hell On Earth

He Believed Suffering Was The Only Way To Receive God’s Love

Gabriel’s plot is confusing, but it ultimately boils down to his belief that humanity only ever finds its “nobler self” by way of horror and pain. By unleashing Hell on Earth, Gabriel believes those who survive the ensuing horrific existence will have proven themselves worthy of God’s love and, ultimately, a place in Heaven. Gabriel’s intentions are ultimately the driving force of Constantine’s plot, from using Balthazar to find a host for Mammon to be reborn to the discovery and delivery of the Spear of Destiny. Gabriel is really at the heart of it all.

Gabriel wants to institute genocide on all humanity to prove that they need to be more grateful.

For whatever reason, Gabriel is living a powerful existence on Earth and is swayed when it comes to his mission for God, developing a general disdain for humanity that leads to his plan to unleash Hell on them. Gabriel’s mission isn’t born of compassion or understanding, but rather an egomaniacal delusion that humans must suffer more to attain God’s love. Gabriel wants to institute genocide on all humanity to prove that they need to be more grateful and thankful for the gift of life, even if he plans to make them suffer through it.

Constantine Tricks Lucifer By Killing Himself

It’s Through Lucifer That Constantine Earns His Redemption

After temporarily stopping Mammon from possessing Angela completely, Gabriel suddenly appears, killing Constantine’s partner, Chas (Shia LaBeouf), before being revealed. He announces his plans to Constantine (who is related to The Sandman’s Johanna Constantine), then tosses him away and prepares to pierce Angela’s flesh with the Spear of Destiny to unleash Mammon. Constantine then does the only thing he can think of to stop Gabriel: he calls Lucifer (Peter Stormare). Slashing his wrists with shattered glass, Constantine kills himself for the second time, summoning Lucifer, who appears personally to take him back to Hell.

Having already taken his own life as a child, Constantine is damned to Hell, which is why he carries out his mission to stop the spread of demons and evil spirits, hoping to earn his way back into Heaven. Alas, the exorcising of Lucifer’s demons created a bitter hatred for Constantine, with the Devil saying he would come to claim the man’s soul when his time came. On the verge of death, Constantine tells Lucifer that Mammon is in the next room with Gabriel and the Spear of Destiny. Lucifer sends Mammon back to Hell and burns Gabriel’s wings.

Constantine was revived in a TV series with Matt Ryan taking on the titular role.

He returns to Constantine, asking what he wants. Constantine says that he wants Isabel to be released to Heaven, which Lucifer quickly grants before starting to drag Constantine back to Hell. Before he can get very far, Constantine is suddenly pulled toward Heaven, flipping off Lucifer as he ascends. Lucifer recognizes what’s happened: Constantine’s selfless sacrifice to save Isabel from Hell delivered the absolution to get to Heaven. By damning himself a second time, Constantine tricked Lucifer into allowing his redemption. However, Lucifer would never let a soul like Constantine’s escape his grasp so easily.

Why Lucifer Healed Constantine

Lucifer Has Confidence That Constantine Will Damn Himself Again

As Constantine ascends to Heaven, Lucifer makes one last play, which involves curing the man’s dying body. As he’s also dying of lung cancer from a lifetime of chain-smoking, Constantine was already dying. Reaching into his chest, Lucifer pulls out all the cancer from Constantine’s lungs, bringing him back to life and giving him a second chance to damn himself all over again. Lucifer believes that Constantine is destined to screw up, and his choices in life will again lead him back into his arms (and back to Hell).

Although Constantine has earned his redemption and, presumably, still has a ticket to Heaven due to his sacrifice, he now has to continue living and maintaining that status, which could quickly go away if he finds himself veering into sin and debauchery. This result is exactly what Lucifer is counting on.

Constantine Post Credits Scene Explained

Chas Returns As An Angel

After handing over the Spear of Destiny to Angela and trading cigarettes for a piece of gum, Constantine appears in a post-credits scene visiting Chas’ grave, whom Gabriel killed. He approaches the grave and puts his lighter on it, saying, “You did good, kid.” As he walks away, a pair of angel wings show up, and Chas is revealed in angel form before he flies off into the sky.

In the Hellblazer comics, Chas acts as a driver/bodyguard known for his strength and survival skills. However, the transformation to an angelic form is reserved only for the Constantine movie. It’s unclear why he becomes an angel, let alone what his new purpose may be, but it’s surely something that could be explored in the sequel. It’s interesting to note that this is one of the first uses of a post-credits scene in a comic book movie, three years before 2008’s Iron Man made it the standard.

How The Constantine Ending Sets Up A Sequel

Constantine Has A New Lease On Life

The Constantine ending sets up an interesting prospect for the sequel, as John Constantine is in a state he has never been in since he was a child: his soul has been saved. This is not what happened in the comics, as the cancer cure came with Constantine making a deal with multiple rulers in Hell, and they had to respect the others’ deals or a civil war could break out. This means Constantine couldn’t die or Hell would fall apart. Here, he tricked Lucifer and saved his own soul.

This means the Constantine sequel would have nothing to do with the comics, in any real sense. With John having a clean bill of health, and no sins weighing him down, he can move on with his life, but then also end up faced with another situation that he can’t get out of without damning his soul once again. Lucifer clearly wants John’s soul back to earn the right to torture him for eternity, so the ending here likely involves a plan of forcing John to use black magic or otherwise cross that line, thus dooming himself to Hell once again.