The world of John Wick has expanded a lot since the first film so expertly teased its underground society of assassins, crime lords, and killers, but with the ending of John Wick: Chapter 4, you may have thought we wouldn’t be getting to explore it much anymore. Thankfully, Lionsgate and streaming partner Peacock have us all covered with the first spinoff series from the franchise, The Continental, and a teaser trailer for the show dropped today that is basically full-on John Wick, just without John Wick.
The series — full name: The Continental: From the World of John Wick — takes place decades before “the Baba Yaga” begins terrorizing and taking down the High Table, instead telling the story of New York’s Continental and Winston’s quest to take control of it. Playing a young Winston will be Colin Woodell, and he’ll be going up against a ton of killers it appears, all of them with different weapons and methods of taking him out. Joining Woodell in the cast are Mel Gibson, Mishel Prada, Ben Robson, Hubert Point-Du Jour, Nhung Kate, Jessica Allain, Ayomide Adegun, Jeremy Bobb, and Peter Greene. Albert Hughes is an executive producer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4GmiggFXRI
From the look of the Continental teaser trailer, the show is going to play hard into the looks of John Wick, with everyone dressed to the nines, just with a bit more 1970s thrown in there. Most of the trailer is just a ton of assassins holding guns (lots of guns) and other weapons, so clearly the focus here is on great action. The trick will be if the collection of directors the series has tapped will be able to recreate the level of groundbreaking action set pieces found in the original films. The three-part mini-series is directed by Albert Hughes (Parts 1 & 3) and Charlotte Brandstrom (Part 2). Both are experienced directors, but neither has really laid a claim to fame in the action department.
The Continental: From the World of John Wick will premiere on Peacock this September, though no exact release date has been given.
