Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for The Continental: From the World of John Wick.
The Continental: From the World of John Wickfaced a challenging assignment from the jump. Would audiences care aboutJohn Wickwithout the man himself? Surely,Keanu Reevesand the creative fusion ofDerek KolstadandChad Stahelskiwere the glue holding the already simplistic yet shrewd franchise together. How could the neo-noir ambiance and intricate action choreography avoid turning stale without its puppy-avenging hero? Although tiresomely paced and lacking the arresting visuals of its blockbuster-budget predecessors,The Continentalproves the answer to such queries wasn’t moving away from the material but moving backward — specifically, backward in time.
Making theJohn Wick-verse’s first non-Reeves venture an origin storyforIan McShane’s amiable but unyielding Winston Scott (here played byColin Woodell) was one of the smartest moves show-runnersGreg Coolidge,Kirk Ward, andShawn Simmonscould make. For one, Winston was a pre-established supporting character, and an essential one. He’s the professional rule-maker with a wry demeanor and a soft spot for Wick’s roguish nature, and the titular assassin’s surrogate father figure if you tilt your head and squint. His untapped background was ripe for dramatizing. Casting back to the 1970s through Winston also meant the miniseries could further unravel the franchise’s labyrinthine, cloaked-in-mystery lore. In that regard,The Continentaldrenches itself in enough mysterious penanceto make Mr. Wick proud.
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‘John Wick’ Balanced a Simple Story With Complex Lore
All fourJohn Wickfilms wove a delicate balance between unflinching grim violence, stylish absurdity, and this secretive underground assassin mythology that became almost urban fantasy by the end ofJohn Wick: Chapter 4. In the original, modestly budgeted, and less narratively grandioseJohn Wick,the Continental hotel was just a sleek neutral groundwhere assassins could chill in-between missions. Its inclusion intrigued: here’s a wider world differentiating Wick’s narrative architecture from a typical revenge flick. (Assassins need to sleep just like us — how quaint!)As Stahelski and Kolstad’s ambitions grew, the Continental spider-webbed into gold coins, blood oaths, “excommunicado,” a High Table ruling over everything, an Elder figure more powerful than the Table,Bill Skarsgård’s vendetta-driven Marquis, and ancient dueling traditions. Since the murder organization existed before the Roman Empire, it’s implied that the Table’s influence controls the world writ large. That’s bigger than a retired hitman seeking revenge for his puppy.
Stahelski and Kolstad expanded theWickworld with each subsequent film like a slow-rising theatre curtain. They doled out larger tidbits that werehalf-playful in their fantasticalness, hence the urban fantasy vibe; that sub-genre is consolidated to gloomy cities, brooding protagonists, and powerful antagonists, but with magic. What could be convoluted story strands — and arguably are, sinceJohn Wickplucked from the idea buffet with seeming abandon — instead connect with surprising fluidity. That’s due to Stahelski and Kolstad avoiding the perils of too much infodumping. Keeping the intricacies of John Wick’s world in the background prevented the franchise from getting bogged down by its concepts. Every tiny revelation feels more impressive than the last and begets the desire for more. Sure,John Wick’s bones aredesigned for inventive gun-fu, but it wouldn’t be as entertaining without Stahelski and Kolstad constructing their tantalizing modern folklore.
‘The Continental’ Does New Things in Familiar Ways
A series ofThe Continental:From the World of John Wick’s conceit naturally had to explore said mythology. No longer is the world-building restricted to John Wick’s limited point-of-view. ButThe Continentalpeels back its onion layers through the same less is more, but more than what came before, method.There’s establishing familiarity: the hotel’s biggest procedure is the same, that pesky “no business on Continental grounds,” but it’s a rule the current proprietor Cormac O’Connor (Mel Gibson) works around by ordering an employee to take his life. Gold coins designate membership, and it’san unspoken code that determined detective KD (Mishel Prada) figures out too late.The news of an intruder spreads through a chain of subtle gestures. No one has been an outsider inJohn Wickexcept the audience. Since the High Table oversees mass murder and KD’s boss knows better than to mess with this particular swanky hotel, one assumes that interlopers are quietly executed. The entire element tosses the heightened lore onto its ear while keeping it recognizable. It tracks that this is the world John Wick will be born into, and the moody atmosphere such a factor demands stays on-point.
The Continental’s biggest addition comes in the form of the MacGuffin coin press Frankie(Ben Robson)steals. Whatever secrets this “more than just a coin press” holds, it’s enough to send Cormac into a mean panic. It’s enough to bring inKatie McGrath’s elegantly masked Adjudicator, a role introduced inJohn Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. When a situation’s dire, Adjudicators work as intermediaries for the High Table. They’re one step away from the big guns themselves, and they clean up messes. McGrath’s Adjudicator interrogates Frankie’s unfortunate heist partner and helpfully expositions that the object he stole has the power to destroy the High Table, a system “predating the Roman Empire.” Nothing, not even the opening fight sequence, feels moreJohn Wickthan this moment. A menacing person with an inscrutable background delivers monumental threats and teases larger secrets without revealing anything substantial? Pitch perfect. Viewers may learn how the Table was formed and why it “controls everything,” as Frankie said with such resignation. IfThe Continentalopts not to explain, well, that’s in line with the films, too. We go with the lore because it’s chic.
Visuals and Character Work Combine Perfectly in ‘The Continental’
NoJohn Wickatmosphere would be complete without its visual hallmarks. The franchise’s neo-noir inspirations align perfectly withThe Continental’s half-groovy, half-dreary period setting, which must have been intentional. 1970s cinema marked the emergence of the neo-noirs that traded black-and-white shadows for color and kept the moral despair.The Continental’s shadow-drenched streets contrast with the hotel’s ornate interior design. Combat scenes are coated in blue hues. Moreover, Winston and Frankie outrunning an omniscient evil empire and KD investigating depraved corruption at her peril channel the cool slickness of ’70s paranoia thrillers. Although it’s easy to long for the films' saturated color palettes and snappier plot,The Continentalborrows the Wick-verse’s aesthetic cues.
Let’s not forgetour dear Winston Scott. His character is an active presence in eachWickmovie, but decades spent as the New York Continental’s owner directly ties him into the wider set-up.There’s no question Winston is Cormac’s successor, so the questions pop up like molehills in a yard. How does the High Table deign someone worthy of this crucial responsibility? Must Winston pass some proverbial test? Is being a suave and agile-minded entrepreneur enough? To what extentThe Continentalwill or won’t provide answers remains unknown. There’s little moreJohn Wickthan keeping the mystery close to its chest. One thing’s for certain: Winston reveres the High Table’s rules because he has intimate knowledge of how they operate. Starting with the death of his brother through to the loss of his surrogate son, resisting their influence is a lost cause. If a man of Winston’s experience still fears the Table decades later, then everyone should. That goes a long way towardkeepingThe Continental’s eyes on the prize: a faithful expansion, not a soulless retread.
