The "John Wick" franchise is thinking it's back with The Continental, which sees a young
Winston seizing power in 1970s New York.
There's some familiar faces, an iconic car, and guns – lots of guns.
Here's what you may have missed in the first trailer.
The first teaser for "The Continental" focused primarily on reassuring "John Wick" fans that
the style, tone, and action they've come to expect will be present in the franchise's
first spin-off series.
But the latest trailer gives us some insight into the story as well.
It opens with Winston Scott spending the night with a woman who seems to be uninvolved in
the underworld of assassins.
If that's the case, it's extraordinary because audiences have rarely seen anyone in the assassin's
guild interact with citizens outside of their dark world.
But the key takeaway is that Winston, at the start of this series, appears to be outside
the Table as well, at least, until his brother Frankie finds himself in the crosshairs of
the ruling class.
Though there will likely be more twists and turns to the plot, it's reasonable to theorize
that Winston will start this journey trying to bring his brother in peacefully to get
the High Table off their backs.
Once that's done he'll seek justice against the table and launch an assault on the Continental,
and finally come to be its new manager.
Though fans speculated about how big his role would be, Mel Gibson is very much in this
series, and from the looks of this new trailer, he's going to be playing a major role.
We also learn a bit more about Gibson's character, Cormac, who appears to be the show's central
antagonist.
The trailer makes it look like Cormac is responsible for dragging Winston Scott back underneath
the High Table in order to bring his brother Frankie in for judgment.
It looks as if Cormac will serve as the New York Continental Hotel Manager at the start
of the series, which almost certainly means Winston will unseat him before the last bullet
is fired.
As Cormac reveals in the trailer, what incites young Winston's involvement in the show is
the fact that his brother Frankie stole an unnamed, important item from the hotel.
Cormac threatens bad things happening to both Winston and his brother if he's unable to
track down Frankie and return the stolen item.
When Frankie first appears with his brother in the trailer, he's essentially warning Winston
away.
In response, Winston affirms that they're brothers before plotting how they can strike
first against the Continental.
Later, through voiceover, he says,
"This is more than vengeance.
This is justice."
This line implies that there's more to the conflict than simply returning what Frankie
stole.
It's clear that the plot of "The Continental" hinges on a betrayal.
On the surface, it appears that Winston betrays Cormac when he doesn't apprehend Frankie.
Winston's line also suggests that Frankie's actions might be justified, hence Winston
joining the fight against the Continental on his brother's side rather than continuing
to work for Cormac.
In John Wick's world, actions speak louder than words.
But every so often, a character utters a line that hits very hard.
One of the most memorable quotes comes from the Baba Yaga himself, and it didn't even
originate from the franchise.
In "John Wick: Chapter 3," Winston asks his besieged friend what he needs to respond to
the looming threat of the High Table.
John responds simply.
"Under the circumstances, your privileges are reinstated immediately.
What do you need?"
"Guns.
Lots of guns."
This line is a call back to one of Keanu Reeves' other iconic characters, Neo, from "The Matrix"
trilogy.
In the first movie of the series, Neo utters the line when Tank asks what he needs to infiltrate
the stronghold where Morpheus is being held.
"Guns.
Lots of guns."
Now it's a case of history repeating itself as "The Continental" teaser sees Winston dragging
what looks to be Yen to an unmarked doorstep and making the very same request.
"We need guns, lots of guns."
While the preview suggests that Winston has always been the dapper gentleman with a love
for cravats, this might be one of the rare instances where he gets his hands dirty
In the collection of memorable lines from the "John Wick" franchise, a closer runner-up
to John's request for guns is Ian McShane's super smooth delivery marking the beginning
of the hunt for John after he is declared excommunicado.
"And away we go."
With Winston saying the line in the trailer, it's a great little nod back to McShane's
beloved portrayal of the character.
Colin Woodell delivers it brilliantly and is a great tease for what's to come.
"And away we go."
While it's likely that the line is delivered during an epic moment in the three-part show,
it would be just as fitting as the last line of the eagerly-anticipated prequel story.
The final shot of the teaser shows Winston in his signature attire with a glass in hand.
Could this be a celebratory drink from a job well done?
If so, it could work just as well for when he takes The Continental as his own.
The "John Wick" universe might be full of death and mayhem, but it still operates with
a code of honor.
For example, blood must never be spilled on Continental grounds.
Doing so is grounds for immediate excommunication from the guild.
We've already seen what John had to go through when he broke the rules, and he's friendly
with the owner.
So, you can imagine how difficult it's going to be for people who openly go to war with
the establishment.
The "Continental" trailer shows the hotel coming under attack, with everyone from ninjas
to mask-wearing assassins showing up for the action.
These killers are rebels who don't care about the rules and it throws everything into chaos
and disarray.
But who are these people?
What's their agenda?
Is the '70s version of the Continental prone to attracting rogue assassins, or is this
an unfortunate one-off incident?
At one point in the trailer, a coin hits the ground in a close-up shot.
Diehard fans of the "John Wick" franchise will recognize it as an Adjudicator's coin.
This is a different object than the gold coins that likewise play a pivotal role in the franchise.
While a gold coin is good for a favor from another member of the assassin underworld,
the Adjudicator's coin is the calling card of sorts of the Adjudicator, who holds an
important position at the High Table.
The first time the Adjudicator appears is in "John Wick 3" to penalize Winston for breaking
the rules of his position and aiding John.
Throughout that film, the Adjudicator continues to pass judgment on those who have broken
the rules of the High Table and appears to be one of its most pivotal members.
As expected, the presence of the Adjudicator in the trailer seems to confirm that Cormac
is not the highest-ranking criminal in "The Continental."
It's likely he will have to deal at some point with those who hold authority over him.
Whether that means he's in trouble with the High Table or the Adjudicator becomes involved
in the show's central conflict opposite Winston is still unclear.
While we learned in this trailer that Winston Scott was not the manager of the New York
Continental during the 1970s, we now know that his loyal friend and partner, Charon,
at least held some position within the storied establishment.
That being said, Charon does not seem to be the New York Continental's concierge quite
yet.
Per the series' IMDb page, that position will apparently be taken up by Irish musician and
actor Sallay Garnett, also known by her stage name Loah.
While we don't get a great shot of her concierge in the trailer, we can just barely make out
her profile when a guest presents a coin at the front desk.
As for Charon's position, it's hard to say for certain.
He seems to be serving as more of a bodyguard for Cormac, presumably dragging Winston in
and out of the building by force.
That could explain why the character shows off some impressive moves in "John Wick: Chapter
3."
When it was first announced that Katie McGrath would play a role called The Adjudicator in
the "John Wick" spin-off series "The Continental," some understandably assumed that she'd be
playing the same character played by Asia Kate Dillon in "John Wick: Chapter 3."
We can now all but confirm that that's not the case.
This new Adjudicator wears a unique face covering that differentiates her from any member of
the High Table we've met in the franchise so far.
What's more, she seems more willing to get her hands dirty than Dillon's character did
in "Chapter 3."
The opening scenes of "The Continental" trailer show a mysterious 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1,
which will be a familiar sight to fans of this particular action franchise.
The same car belongs to John Wick in the movies, but he won't be behind the wheel for this
outing.
However, the Peacock series might explain why it's so important to everyone's favorite
dog-loving mass murderer.
In the first "John Wick," John tells a group of thugs that his vehicle isn't for sale,
suggesting that the car holds some sentimental value.
Later, when the baddies steal it, Aurelio is horrified to learn that they had the nerve
to do that and kill his dog in the process.
People who know Wick seem to know that his car is important to him.
Could that be due to the original owner?
In the "Continental" trailer, we see a Young Winston Scott and his brother, Frankie, going
for a ride in the same muscle car.
It even has the same license plate decades later, so there's no doubt that it's the same
car.
Winston is arguably John's closest friend in the world, and four movies have proven
that they have each other's backs, for the most part.
Considering that we're unlikely to see John in "The Continental," we probably won't see
how the car made its way from Winston's hands to John's.
But either way, its history with Winston is probably the reason why John's so attached
to it.