A producer of the John Wick spinoff The Continental explains how the show went from 10 episodes to 3 movies. Keanu Reeves’ Baba Yaga became a cult sensation when the original film released in 2014, then evolved into a genuine worldwide movie phenomenon through a trio of sequels. Now thanks to a currently-streaming Peacock spinoff series, the world invented through Chad Stahelski’s quartet of action-packed films has received a further expansion, taking audiences back in time to the 1970s and the early days of Ian McShane’s mysterious hotel proprietor Winston Scott. Though the show does succeed in expanding the lore of its universe, the fact that it lasts for just three extended episodes may seem curious in a world where spinoff shows routinely get much longer runs.
John Wick spinoff The Continental in fact was at one time intended to run for much longer than three episodes, but at some point the choice was made to reduce its length, and now one of the show’s credited producers has spoken out about the move to shorten the series. In an Instagram posting, Marc Bernardin discussed his experience working on the Peacock series, giving interesting insights into how the show came together and why it isn’t the ten-episode season he originally worked on. Check out his remarks in the space below:
Now that the #WGAstrong strike is over, I suppose I can talk about new stuff. My experience with The Continental was odd. It’s a job I very much wanted, nay, manifested judging by the second slide. There were some terrific people in the writers room, people I’d love to work with again. I did my 20 weeks and then got the call to join Starfleet [as a producer on Star Trek: Picard].
Then, things happened. The 10-episode series we broke and started to write became three TV movies, which yielded a Frankenstein-smashing together of different stories from different episodes. Casting decisions were made, one of which I’d have fought tooth and nail against, but would have likely lost as I wasn’t the showrunner and the buck doesn’t stop with me. Also, a pandemic.
I know a lot of people worked really hard on The Continental. Knowing what it could’ve been, I’m not in a terrible rush to watch it. I spooled up the first episode/movie just to make sure my credit was there. But I hope you dig. That’s always the goal. And if you find yourself diverted from the world for a stretch, then mission accomplished.
Bernardin May Have Been Against Mel Gibson’s Casting
Bernardin’s pointed new remarks make it plain that he disagreed with several key decisions made by The Continental producers after his departure. It’s evident that he did not like the move to shrink the story down from ten episodes to three movie-length installments, a change he says resulted in a “Frankenstein-smashing together” of the stories the writers originally meant to tell in more detail. Perhaps more interesting is his brief remark about a piece of casting he disagreed with, a likely reference to the controversial Mel Gibson joining the Continental cast in the role of Cormac O’Connor.
Gibson’s addition to the extended world of John Wick was indeed an eye-opening choice, one that was defended back in September by EP Albert Hughes, who told TVLine:
The personal life stuff, that’s not my place to get into. I’m just trying to do my job and appreciate a person who knows what he’s doing in front of the camera and behind it.
The Continental has proven to be a divisive show in a lot of ways, one that arguably did a poor job of capturing the true spirit of the John Wick universe as established by the movies. Whether the show would have done better as a ten-episode season than as three movies is something that will remain forever unknown. From his remarks, it’s plain which side of the Continental divide original producer Bernardin finds himself on.
