How The Continental Tackled Action in the John Wick World

The John Wick movies burst onto the scene in 2014, kickstarting a franchise based on a completely original idea. Keanu Reeves checked in under the direction of Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, bringing a super assassin to the big screen seeking revenge for his slain puppy. Little did they know at the time, the incredible action sequences would become iconic in mainstream media and not only spawn an additional three films but also a spinoff prequel series by the name of The Continental. For The Continental director Albert Hughes, great action is an expectation for a project living in the world of John Wick, which is why he had a specific approach to it for the three-part Peacock series. 

“Well, it starts with, ‘Don’t compete with Chad [Stahelski] because he’s the best that does it,’ and use his company and uses producers,” Hughes said, sat beside producers Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee, both of whom worked on John Wick. “They were the ones that were on the search for the perfect guy, Larnell Stovall, our action and fight coordinator.”

Audiences who watched John Wick: Chapter 4 this year know very well how action chews up the run time in the Reeves-lead shootouts and brawls. For Hughes, this was never an option on The Continental. “I’m also a big believer in not overstaying your welcome and being into action critique,” the director said. “[The movies] really get away with it because they have a singular character and John Wick and a singular personality in Keanu Reeves. They also get away with it because there’s no one like Chad the way he does that. He’s one of a kind. We have the advantage and disadvantage of; we have to tell a longer story and introduce more characters.” 

Hughes believes The Continental, with three episodes each running about an hour and a half long, could not spend 30 minutes or 10 minutes on singular action set sequences. “Nor would I want to, I come from the school of loving Sergio Leone films where it’s all about the tension and the buildup and a quick release of violence,” Hughes explained. “So, I had to have the happy medium of learning from what Chad does and learning from what Sergio does and kind of finding that new balance.”

The Continental is set in 1975, decades prior to the events of the first John Wick movie. This called for casting younger versions of Winston and Charon, previously played by Ian McShane and the late Lance Reddick. The three-part series is set to premiere on Peacock on Friday, September 22.