The John Wick movies offer arguably the best action movie experience out of Hollywood in the last decade. I say “arguably”, because I know there are some (people I know personally here) who loved the first film but then didn’t like how the two sequels moved away from the gristly lean approach of that groundbreaking original to instead expand the scope of the world massively, peeling away the layers of this often idiosyncratic criminal empire. Well, I guess these unhappy fans are not looking forward to The Continental then. Luckily, I’m not one of those people.
The upcoming TV series spinoff has been in development for some time now but we haven’t really heard or seen much. Back in 2017, shortly after John Wick 2 was released, franchise director/co-creator Chad Stahelski confirmed that while Keanu Reeves’ Wick may show up, the planned series will be focused on other characters in this world who also make use of the Continental, a chain of hotels across the world that acts as sacred ground and safe haven for all in this community of criminals.
Speaking to Fandom (via ComingSoon.net) now, Stahelski expanded on this, saying that “The angle they’re working on the Continental TV show right now is a different perspective on the whole world…”.
…it’s coming at it from different characters’ points of view and what the breadth of the world is. Whereas in John Wick I’m following a time period that’s almost just a week in the life of one man, [for] who everything spirals out of control, which [is] our John Wick story.The angle that the other producers and writers on the TV show are coming from is a very different timeline structure and a very different perspective of character. About how deep the world goes, and not just assassins but everything that’s included.
It’s not just this weird criminal world of gold coins and secret “High Table” criminal overlords and the like that will be shown off though. Some of the faces we’ve already met in the movies – hopefully, like Ian McShane’s hotel manager Winston or Lance Reddick’s hotel concierge Charon – will get their backstories delved into as well. But don’t expect any more reveals about John Wick himself though – that’s what the movies are for.
And a lot of the origin stories are some of the characters you see in Wick. So it’s got some very interesting things, it’s a very interesting take on the Wick world, which I think is pretty cool. But it won’t be from the John Wick perspective. Not that John Wick won’t be involved with it, it’s just not from his perspective.
Stahelski, Reeves, co-director David Leitch, franchise writer Derek Kolstad and franchise producer Basil Iwanwyk will exec produce The Continental. However, it’s been revealed that award-winning TV writer Chris Collins (The Wire, Sons of Anarchy, The Sopranos) will server as showrunner on the series, which will air on Starz. And that’s all the official news we have right now on The Continental. We still don’t know who will be in the cast or when it will actually debut, and I’m sure the current industry lockdown isn’t helping at all. Because of that lockdown, the upcoming John Wick 4 was recently pushed back massively to 27 May 2022. Maybe The Continental will be here to sate our needs till then?
Last Updated: May 15, 2020
Iskape
May 15, 2020 at 12:46
I still need to watch John Wick 3! I’m very excited to see where this all goes.