Legends Of Tomorrow: What Happens With Constantine After That Cliffhanger

There are dark times ahead for John Constantine (Matt Ryan) on The CW's Legends of Tomorrow. In the latest episode of the series, "A Head of Her Time," the cigarette-smoking master of the occult was stricken with an advanced form of lung cancer and now looks to be on the brink of death.

While this particular plot twist may seem a little dark for a show like Legends of Tomorrow, which trades in silliness and fun, it's actually deeply rooted in the Hellblazer comics. In the Dangerous Habits story arc, Constantine is suffering from terminal lung cancer and attempts to con his way out of it. In the next episode of Legends, "Mortal Khanbat," viewers will get a taste of that.

"Matt has an amazing storyline which we did pull from the comics. I co-wrote that one, Caity Lotz directed. It was so fun to be on set. Caity smashed it. She did an amazing job. She was so prepared and then so creative with the camera. It was lovely to see," executive producer Grainne Godfree teased. "But for Matt Ryan's character Constantine, we wanted to give him one of the iconic storylines from the comics where he gets lung cancer and he's going to try to do everything he can in the most John Constantine-type way to get out of it."

Working a bit of Hellblazer mythology into Legends of Tomorrow is massive for fans of the comics. However, it's perhaps nowhere near as exciting as it is for Ryan, himself. The actor previously played the character on NBC's adaptation of Hellblazer, which ran for a single season, before he was incorporated into the Arrow-verse.

"It's very, very, very important to Matt Ryan. He is the world's leading expert on all things Constantine," showrunner Phil Klemmer admitted. "In fact, he probably would hand you a book if you're having trouble remembering something. He has it in his bag at all times."

Still, while John's lung cancer will be explored in the next episode, don't expect the series to follow exactly the story told in the comics too closely. "For us, it's, you know, a balance because we want to honor it. At the same time, we want to break new ground, as well," Klemmer said. "Hopefully we, we found the right balance with that. There's no predicting where we're headed based on the books, but it was a great launching point."

Of course, that doesn't mean John is going to die. After all, with two major characters preparing to leave Legends of Tomorrow, saying goodbye to another mainstay seems unlikely.

Legends of Tomorrow airs Tuesdays on The CW.