John Wick Prequel Debuting On Peacock Sooner Than Expected
Get your gold coins ready, John Wick fans, because The Continental is coming sooner than you think! Variety reports that Peacock announced the release date for the John Wick spinoff Friday at the recent San Diego Comic-Con. The Continental will be a three-part event, with Part 1 debuting Friday, September 22, with Parts 2 and 3 dropping on September 29 and October 6, respectively.
The limited series takes place in a 1970s New York City straight out of the original Death Wish and follows Winston Scott (Colin Woodell), the younger incarnation of Ian McShane’s character first introduced in 2014’s John Wick. Of course, it wouldn’t be John Wick without somebody’s past coming back to haunt them, and The Continental is no exception.
The Continental will premiere on Peacock on September 22.
The series logline describes Winston as being “dragged into the Hell-scape of 1970’s New York City to face a past he thought he’d left behind,” which to us sounds John Wick AF.
Comic-Con
Due to the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, the Continental panel—much like several others at this year’s Comic-Con—replaced the series cast with the creative team behind the John Wick prequel. Instead of stars like Mel Gibson, fans had to settle for executive producer/director Albert Hughs as well as executive producer Marshall Persinger and action director Larnell Stovall.
Also on the panel were production designer Drew Boughton and editor Ron Rosen.
Most fans attend panels for the exclusive footage, however, and the John Wick fans attending The Continental panel were not disappointed. Peacock treated fans to a behind-the-scenes featurette as well as four clips from the series spotlighting Mel Gibson‘s mysterious Cormac and Woodell’s Winston.
It was evident from the amount of levity in the featurette and clips that The Continental is going for a slightly “jokier” tone than the more serious John Wick films.
While the dialogue might be more humorous, The Continental doesn’t skimp on the John Wick franchise’s signature violent shenanigans. One clip, in particular, featured a character named Frankie, played by Vikings‘ Ben Robson, taking out a gaggle of goons using some creative kills and spilling a ton of blood in the process.
What made the clip even more impressive was the admission from action director Larnell Stovall that the spectacular action sequence was shot in one day with Robson performing all of his own stunts.
The Continental doesn’t skimp on the John Wick franchise’s signature violent shenanigans.
The show will build upon the lore already established in the John Wick film series by expanding upon not only Winston’s backstory but that of the famous Continental Hotel itself, as well as the mysterious High Council.
The Continental will be the first spinoff to make it on screen, followed next year by the Ana de Armas spinoff film Ballerina. Depending on the success of both projects, fans might eventually be looking at an expansive “John Wick Cinematic Universe.” A mature, blood-soaked alternative to the MCU.
If the panel at Comic-Con was any indication, the creators of John Wick are certainly on the right track. Hopefully, the SAG-AFTRA strike doesn’t put too much of a roadblock in the way of future John Wick spin-off content. Just like everyone else in Hollywood, we’ll just have to wait and see.
In the meantime, fans can tune into The Continental on Peacock starting September 22.
