Featured Image Credit: Peacock
Topics: Film and TV, John Wick
Jess Hardiman
The first trailer for the John Wick TV series The Continental has dropped ahead of its release later this year.
The prequel mini-series takes us back to 1970s New York to tell the origin story of The Continental Hotel, which provides a safe haven for assassins in the John Wick films - as well as how Winston Scott (Colin Woodell) came to his position as proprietor.
A synopsis from Peacock says: "The three-part event series will explore the origin behind the iconic hotel-for-assassins centerpiece of the John Wick universe through the eyes and actions of a young Winston Scott, as he’s dragged into the Hell-scape of 1970’s New York City to face a past he thought he’d left behind.
Advert
"Winston charts a deadly course through the hotel’s mysterious underworld in a harrowing attempt to seize the hotel where he will eventually take his future throne."
The new series, which was greenlit way back in 2018, will finally land on Peacock this September.
Alongside Woodell - who plays a young version of Winston Scott, portrayed by Ian McShane in the Keanu Reeves films - it will star the likes of Mel Gibson, Hubert Point-Du Jour, Jessica Allain, Mishel Prada, Nhung Kate, Ben Robson, Peter Greene, Ayomide Adegun, Jeremy Bobb, Katie McGrath, Ray McKinnon, Adam Shapiro, Mark Musashi and Marina Mazepa.
After the teaser trailer dropped, it seems fans are excited for the new addition to the hugely popular franchise, with one writing on YouTube: "Oh, so looking forward to this. Looks like they nailed down the style and tone of what made John Wick popular."
Someone else said: "Alright, this looks insane."
A third added: "Let’s gooooooooooo!!!"
Some were disappointed not to see a glimpse of Gibson in action as Cormac - marking his first TV role since 2004 comedy Complete Savages - but it looks like we'll have to be patient for that, given that this is the first trailer we've had.
We're all naturally excited, given that the project has been in the work for literal years.
As far back as 2019, Starz CEO Jeffrey Hirsch confirmed the show would be a prequel, and would be set ‘way earlier in the history of the series’.
Speaking to Slash Film at the Television Critics Association, Hirsch said: "It’ll be a fresh look at the continental as the hotel and how that came into the being of John Wick. It’s way back in terms of the movies."
He also said the series would be released after John Wick: Chapter 4, though at the time, that was slated for a May 2021 release date.
Thankfully, you won't have to wait too long for The Continental to hit screens, as it's due for release in a matter of months - September 2023.