Lets address the giant anti semitic elephant in the room first, shall we? When Peacock announced Mel Gibson would be starring in their upcoming “John Wick” spinoff series “The Continental,” we were….concerned. Also, no, this isn’t “Saturday Night Live” classic ongoing The Continental sketch starring Christopher Walken. Because THAT would be awesome.
Considering how problematic Gibson had become in the last oh, say, 20 years, why the hell have him lead something like this? It feels too much like rewarding bad behavior. Behavior, we remind you, which led to previously super bankable Gibson to be absent as a star from major motion pictures. Although yes, he did direct and receive an Oscar nomination for “Hacksaw Ridge” in 2016, and has been named as director for a 5th “Lethal Weapon” film after the passing of director Richard Donner in 2021.
These things ran the gamut from a 2011 no contest plea to a misdemeanor charge of beating his then girlfriend; a 2006 DUI where the now famous recording of several ethnic and racial slurs came from, and a few other choice tidbits from interviews and appearances.
Okay, back to “The Continental.” Originally announced and developed for STARZ, the series is a prequel to the popular Keanu Reeves-starring “John Wick” franchise. Due to various deals and delays, the series is now going to be housed at NBC/Universal’s streaming platform, Peacock.
We know Gibson is playing Cormac, proprietor of the famed Continental hotel. A first look image, which was debuted by IGN, shows Gibson in character.
“I think he fit the role, he fit what we needed based on his film past. And I’ll leave others to debate the other stuff because it’s not a black-and-white issue, and I don’t want to be sound-bited and clickbait,” executive producer/director Albert Hughes told IGN about casting Gibson. “That’s a tricky game to get into. I have my own personal beliefs in life and whatnot about everything, but I’m here to entertain. And earlier in my career I wasn’t so careful. But there’s a weight that he brought, the stuff that he brought from his past roles and what he has done that we needed for this role. And I don’t think anybody could have fit better, let’s put it that way, just with his chops and his experience.”
So, you can possibly understand our outright concern with giving him a pretty big starring vehicle, and the choices being made by Hughes and others behind the scene.
“The Continental” is set to premiere sometime this fall. We’ll let you know what we hear about this and other news.
