Day 1 of Netflix's Geeked Week brought us the long-awaited first trailer for The Sandman, and during the panel that preceded the big reveal, Neil Gaiman pretty much confirmed that Jenna Coleman's Johanna Constantine is a gender-flipped take on fan-favorite occultist John Constantine.
You may have already assumed this was going to be the case, but some confusion arose from the fact that Johanna is actually a separate character in Gaiman's comic series.
Morpheus encounters John in the third issue when he seeks the chain-smoking magician's help in retrieving his sand pouch. Then, much later in the saga, the Lord of Dreams meets Constantine's 18th century ancestor Lady Johanna. It's clear from the trailer, however, that the latter will be replacing her great-great-great grandson for the purposes of this show.
Gaiman describes Johanna as "powered-up" version of John with a higher class of clientele (including the Queen and the Royal Family), but still just as "heartbroken, wounded, bitter" as her male counterpart.
We're not sure why Johanna was brought into the 21st century to take John's place in the story, but it might have something to do with the planned HBO Max series focusing on the DC Comics Hellblazer.
Have another look at the trailer below, and let us know what you make of this development in the comments section.
The Sandman is set to premiere on August 5th.
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