#‘The Continental’ Teaser Trailer: Mel Gibson Stars in John Wick TV Series

The first look at the John Wick prequel series is here, but don’t expect to see its biggest star.

Below is the teaser trailer for The Continental, Peacock’s three-part limited series set roughly 40 years before the events in the Wick feature film saga that focuses on events surrounding a hotel for assassins in New York City.

The project’s top-billed actor is Mel Gibson, who plays a character named Cormac, yet the controversial Oscar winner is absent from the footage:

The show — fully titled The Continental: From The World Of John Wick — stars Colin Woodell (The Purge) as Winston Scott. He’s the young version of the Continental Hotel owner played by Ian McShane in the films that star Keanu Reeves.

For Gibson, The Continental is his first TV series work since his recurring role in the short-lived 2004 ABC comedy Complete Savages. His casting in The Continental caused a backlash on social media when announced due to the actor-director’s history of anti-Semitic comments. His omission from the trailer is a bit conspicuous given Gibson is the most well-known member of the ensemble cast.

Here’s the official description: “The three-part event 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 1970s New York City to face a past he thought he’d left behind.  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.”

Peacock also announced the event will premiere in September 2023.

The Lionsgate project took a long road to the screen, having first been put into development in 2018. The limited series is written and executive produced by Greg Coolidge, Kirk Ward and Shawn Simmons (Wayne), with Albert Hughes (Menace II Society) directing episodes one and three and Charlotte Brandstrom (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power) helming episode two.

The series also stars Mishel Prada (KD), Ben Robson (Frankie), Hubert Point-Du Jour (Miles), Nhung Kate (Yen), Jessica Allain (Lou), Ayomide Adegun (Charon), Jeremy Bobb (Mayhew) and Peter Greene (Uncle Charlie).