We heard much about the John Wick spinoff series, The Continental in quite some time. It was announced in 2017 that the series was being developed for Lionsgate by John Wick saga director Chad Stahelski and writer, Derek Kolstad. We know that it will, as its title suggests, centre around the chain of hotels in the John Wick saga, named The Continental, that serves as safe-havens for hit-men and assassins. In 2018 it was reported that the series has been picked up by Starz Network in the US. Chris Collins will serve as executive writer and showrunner for the series, while Chad Stahelski, David Leitch (co-director of John Wick 1) and Keanu Reeves will serve as producers. We know nothing much, beyond that.
Well, it looks like we finally have some freshly squeezed information. In an interview with Fandom, Chad Stahelski talked about what differentiates The Continental from the John Wick franchise timeline. Stahelski said that The Continental will have “a very different timeline structure and a very different perspective of character.” While Stahelski was vague with the details, one thing we can deduce is that unlike the John Wick movies that take place over the span of few days, The Continental will likely not move that vigorously. Stahelski also told Fandom “[The show is] about how deep the world goes, and not just about assassins but everything that’s included. And a lot of the origin stories are some of the characters that you see in [John Wick].”
This gets me all sorts of excited. What makes the John Wick movies so special isn’t just how well the action sequences are choreographed and captured, but also because of its worldbuilding. The John Wick saga often plays out like a fantasy film and is packed with fascinating larger than life characters with their own unique roles. While Stahelski did not elaborate on which one of the supporting characters in the films will be getting their backstories explored, two characters I’m salivating to see is Charon the Concierge and also John Wick’s Russian mother figure.
Stahelski also went on to say, the show will use “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.”
