Legends of Tomorrow's Matt Ryan reflects on Constantine's fate ahead of season finale: 'It just felt right and organic'

It's become almost a rite of passage to have actors play different characters along the way on The CW's Legends of Tomorrow, and the cast shake-ups are rolling along ahead of the season finale coming this weekend.

**Spoilers ahead for the latest episode of Legends of Tomorrow**

Farewell, John Constantine. We hardly knew ye. Matt Ryan bade farewell to DC's roguish paranormal investigator in last night's penultimate episode of Legends of Tomorrow Season 6 ("There Will Be Brood"), in which he was tragically absorbed by the Fountain of Imperium.

"Taking him where we've taken him was, I feel, completely the right thing for us to do," Ryan told Entertainment Weekly. "All the writers were so conscious about trying to give him a good send-off as well. They really wanted to say, 'We love John and let's give him this to go.' So the way it materialized, it just felt right and organic."

He went on to express his profound gratitude for the opportunity to explore facets of Constantine "in ways I never thought I would explore him" after the hero's standalone TV series was initially canceled at NBC after one short season back in 2015.

It's been suspected that the character had to die on Legends of Tomorrow because J.J. Abrams is currently developing a new Constantine-centric project for HBO Max, and we've seen DC make efforts to avoid having the same character in film and TV to avoid confusion (though that hasn't stopped The Flash movie, of course).

While that speculation has yet to be confirmed or denied, Ryan's involvement with the show is far from over. The actor will return for Season 7 as new character Dr. Gwyn Davies, who is described as "an eccentric scientist from the early 20th century who may prove to be a pivotal ally for the chaotic time-travelers."

"There's more chance for spontaneous things [with Dr. Gwyn Davies] to happen outside of the framework we've constructed, and that's really exciting," Ryan explained during his chat with EW. "I'm not saying it's better than playing John Constantine. John Constantine has been wonderful. The timing of how this thing has happened, it felt like it was time for me to explore something in a different way and this way, so it's worked out perfectly."

Legends of Tomorrow's Season 6 finale — "The Fungus Amongus" — premieres on The CW this Sunday (Sep. 5) at 8 p.m. EST