It’s hard to imagine a show or movie in the John Wick universe without John Wick, but that’s exactly what “The Continental” is. The new three-part Peacock series is technically a prequel to the John Wick films, but it’s entirely centered on Winston Scott, played in the original movies by Ian McShane. “The Continental” stars Colin Woodell as Winston and explores his origin story, tracing how he came to run a hotel that provides sanctuary for off-duty assassins and other criminals.
Based on the timeline alone, it’s technically impossible Reeves could appear as John Wick in “The Continental,” since his character is a child in the 1970s. As fun as it would be to see Reeves play a teenager, the 59-year-old actor has passed that threshold at this point.
It’s also unlikely we’ll see a young version of John in the show. Thanks to the comics and “John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum,” we also know Reeves’s character was born in a village in the Soviet Union and spent parts of his youth in El Sauzal, Mexico, per Looper. Wick is about 35 in the first movie, which came out in 2014 and takes place in the present day, so him appearing in New York City in the 1970s is not likely.
While there aren’t too many familiar faces in “The Continental,” viewers will recognize the central hotel itself, which appears in the John Wick movies. There’s no actual Continental Hotel in New York City, but according to production designers Dan Leigh and Nicholas Bernstein, per NBC, the fictional hotel is located at 1 Wall Street in Manhattan. The facade used in the movies is actually the Cocoa Exchange building, which is located at the real-world 1 Wall Street.
The most recent John Wick movie starring Reeves, “John Wick: Chapter 4,” premiered on March 24. Up next, the franchise’s first spinoff, “Ballerina,” will see Reeves appear alongside Ana de Armas, who plays a ballerina determined to kill the people who murdered her family. The film is set for a 2024 release.
“The Continental” premieres on Peacock on Sept. 22.