The Continental: From the World of John Wick: Release date, trailer, cast, plot and more

The Continental hotel will soon reopen its doors to fans of the John Wick movie with a new prequel TV series called the continental, which will arrive on Peacock, NBC Universal’s streaming platform in September 2023.

THE John Wick the franchise, which stars beloved actor Keanu Reeves as the iconic assassin forced out of retirement to seek revenge, was only meant to be a movie. But now the John Wick Universe boasts four chapters (read our guide to watching the John Wick movies in order) with more to come. We can expect a spin-off film Dancer in 2024, which follows the story of dancer-killer Rooney (played by Ana de Armas) as she hunts down those who killed her family. As well as a fifth installment of the film, which has all but been confirmed by Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer.

The Continental will be set in an alternative history in the 70s and in three episodes will focus on a young version of the Winston played by Ian McShane, the manager of the hotel The Continental in John Wick movie. This worldwide hotel chain offers neutral territory for members of the criminal underworld, such as assassins like Wick, to do business or hide from the authorities. Below you will find everything you need to know the continental, including release date, cast, plot details and more. Major spoilers coming for the John Wick franchiseso go back if you’re not engrossed in the four films.

The continental release date

The first episode of The Continental will arrive on September 22, 2023. The second episode will arrive a week later on September 29, 2023, and the third and final episode a week later on October 6, 2023.

The Continental will launch exclusively on Peacock in the US and Prime Video in non-US regions (for Expiration) except for Israel and the Middle East.

The trailer of the Continental

The official trailer of The Continental arrived in mid-August 2023. It offers us a tantalizing glimpse into what we can expect from the show, including plenty of action, beautifully choreographed fight scenes, and a simmering feud between warring factions.

From what we can tell, Mel Gibson’s character Cormac is the manager of The Continental hotel in the 1970s and tells a young Winston (Colin Woodell) that he needs to get his house in order after his brother Frankie stole something that belongs to him. “This sacred institution wields power beyond your imagination,” Cormac says of Gibson. “Your brother has taken something from me. Find him, because if you don’t, I will place the burden of this institution on both of you.”

THE John Wick the franchise has always been great and we are glad to see it The Continental is intended to be just as aesthetically pleasing, with a 70s style, gorgeous sweeping scenes of New York City and The Continental, and, of course, plenty of dark scenes drenched in neon lights.

The Continental cast

Amazon Studios has released a practical guide to the cast of The Continental.

• Colin Woodell as young Winston Scott
• Ayomide Adegun as Charon
• Peter Greene as Young Uncle Charlie
• Mel Gibson as Cormac
• Nhung Kate as Yen
• Katie McGrath as Judge
• Jessica Allain as Lou
• Jeremy Bobb as Mayhew
• Adam Shapiro as Lemmy
• Claire Cooper as Mrs. Davenport
• Ray McKinnon as Jenkins
• Ben Robson as Frankie
• Marina Mazepa as Gretel
• Mark Mushashi as Hansel
• Mishel Prada as KD
• Hubert Point-Du Jour as Miles

Given The Continental is a prequel, Keanu Reeves will not appear in the series for the small screen. So, those of you hoping for a John Wick cameo, will be very disappointed.

The Continental will be set in an alternate history in 1975, meaning that both the hotel’s current owner Winston and his trusted concierge Charon will be played by younger actors, Colin Woodell and Ayomide Adegun, rather than Ian MacShane and Lance Reddick. Another of the show’s biggest announcements is the involvement of Mel Gibson who will play a character called Cormac, the manager of The Continental hotel in the 1970s.

In Amazon’s most recent press release, more details emerged about supporting characters, including KD and Mayhew, played by Mishel Prada and Jeremy Bobb, two NYPD detectives. Frankie, Winston’s brother who drags him into the events of the series, is played by Ben Robson. And Nhung Kate plays his wife Yen, a fierce fighter who will do anything to protect him.

Finally, two other notable characters are Lou, played by Jessica Allain, and Miles, played by Hubert Point-Du Jour, a brother and sister pair who run the dojo left to them by their late father. From what we can tell The Continental trailer, it looks like Winston will team up with Lou and Miles to take on Cormac.

As for the crew behind this spin-off, the series is created by Greg Collidge (Wayne, Ride Along) and Kirk Ward (Wayne). Executive producers include Albert Hughes, Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, Chad Stahelski, Derek Kolstad, David Leitch, Shawn Simmons, Paul Wernick, Rhett Reese, AND Marshall Persinger.

Hughes will also take over the direction of the first and third episodes, together with Charlotte Brändström (The Rings of Power) at the helm of the second.

The Continental Plot

While The Continental is a prequel series, it is also a completely new spin-off of the usual story centered instead on a young Winston, who in John Wick movies we know and love own the hotel residence in New York City.

However, inside The Continental he’s not the owner of the hotel, at least not at first. Instead, it is owned by Cormac (Mel Gibson) who summons Winston to find his brother, Frankie, as he has stolen something important from him.

It is interesting to note that The Continental will also explore real-world events, including the Great Garbage Strike and the rise of the American Mafia. Despite being a work of fiction, therefore, it appears that the series will draw heavily on or be inspired by true events.

Talking with World of fans in 2020, Chad Stahelski, stuntman turned director of the John Wick franchise, said: “The angles they’re working on The Continental The TV show right now offers a different perspective on the whole world. It comes from the point of view of the different characters and the breadth of the world. Whereas in John Wick I follow a period of time, literally almost a week in a man’s life, where everything goes out of control.”

The Continental: John Wick Timeline Explained

As we mentioned, The Continental is a prequel set 40 years before John Wick films that we have come to know and love. Talking with ExpirationKevin Beggs of Lionsgate TV said, “Because we’re way back in time, way before John Wick and even before young John Wick, that character just can’t find his way into the universe. We’re in the John Wick universe, but it is far back in time. Think about game of Thrones prequel because you don’t know any of the players, but you know the world.”

Given that John Wick screenwriter Derek Kolstad previously revealed that Keanu’s character was initially supposed to be a 75-year-old man (according to Variety), we could very well have seen Wick appear in some capacity. However, since the character will eventually be written as a 35-year-old man, he will not have been born at the time of the events of The Continental. So, as we said before, don’t expect it to be present.

Ultimately, as far as the John Wick chronology-wise, it’s an origin story of The Continental’s deep history. It’s also a chance for Winston and several other characters from the franchise’s origin stories to be explored and perhaps provide a more detailed look at how their characters got to the future. John Wick myths.

It’s unclear if future seasons will be greenlit, if The Continental will remain a miniseries, or as the TV series will tie into John Wick Chapter 4. If it’s even half as successful as the original John Wick movie was, however, you can rest assured that Peacock will renew the prequel show for more installments.

For more Peacock-based content, find out how much a Peacock subscription costs or read our Peacock review. Alternatively, check out what we think of Peacock’s Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reboot.