The newly released John Wick TV series on Amazon Prime has gotten the stamp of approval from fans of the series — even though it doesn’t feature the hero himself.
The Continental, which premiered on US streaming service Peacock, becomes available to stream internationally on Amazon Prime Video on September 22.
The three-part series stars a well-known cast, including Mel Gibson, Colin Woodell, Peter Green, Ayomide Adigun, Jeremy Pope, Hubert Point du Jour, Jessica Allen, Michele Prada, Nhong Kit and Ben Robson.
They are also joined by Katie McGrath, Ray McKinnon, Adam Shapiro, Mark Musashi and Marina Mazepa, who were announced as additional cast members in February.
Set in 1975 New York City, the series explores the origins of The Continental Hotel, featured in the John Wick films as a safe haven for assassins, and Winston Scott, played by Colin Woodell.
It takes a deeper dive into Winston Scott’s position as owner of the hotel chain, a safe haven for the most dangerous criminals – and upon which no business should be done.
McGrath has signed on to play The Adjudicator while McKinnon will play Jenkins, Shapiro will play Lemmy, and Musahi and Mazepa will play High Table killers Hansel & Gretel.
Gibson plays a character named Cormac, with Peter Green playing Uncle Charlie, Ayomide Adigun as Sharon (played by Lance Reddick in the John Wick films) and Jeremy Pope as Mayhew.
The cast is rounded out with Hubert Point du Jour as Miles, Jessica Allen as Lou, Michelle Prada as KD, Nhong Kit as Yen, and Ben Robson as Frankie.
The series is created by Greg Coolidge (Wayne, Ride Along) and Kirk Ward (The Turkey Bowl, Wayne), and is also executive produced by Albert Hughes (The Good Lord Bird, The Book of Eli).
Fans of the original four John Wick films, starring Keanu Reeves as former hit man John Wick, will be blown away by the graphics, plot and introduction of new characters in each of the three 90-minute episodes.
Viewers took to X, formerly Twitter, and left rave reviews, with one fan writing: “The Continental on Amazon Prime is off to a strong start.”
Another X user said: “The Continental on Amazon Prime is so good,” while one fan wrote: “Loving Mel Gibson in The Continental on Amazon Prime.” good offer.’
One fan left a detailed review for other John Wick fans, writing: “While it’s not a touch of the Wick movies, it has a fun little origin story about a part of the universe I wanted to know more about and some of it is silly.” Good job all the time.
However, it appears to be Katie McGrath – who starred in the Jurassic World and BBC series Merlin – who has stolen the show so far, captivating viewers with her performance as the judge.
The Arbiter is a High Table agent first introduced in Chapter 3 of John Wick, who has the authority to act and make decisions on behalf of The High Table and The Elder.
In this spin-off series, she appears non-violent, acting merely as a messenger, while her underlings do her dirty work – but she hides the lower half of her face with a geisha-style plastic mask, wrapping the character in a puzzle.
“Sorry not sorry… I only watch The Continental for judge Katie McGrath,” one fan wrote on X.
Another praised the actress’ role, writing: “She rules like a queen!” “We love Judge McGrath,” while one fan raved: “Katie McGrath is a real main character for the Continental.”
A recent fan was left feeling hot and bothered after seeing McGrath appear as the dark and mysterious referee.
They wrote: “Katie McGrath as the arbitrator in The Continental brought everyone to their knees for reasons across the creepy spectrum.” Welcome to AdjudiKatie’s fan club!!’
The Continental is available to stream now on Amazon Prime Video.
“Infuriatingly humble web fan. Writer. Alcohol geek. Passionate explorer. Evil problem solver. Incurable zombie expert.”
