John Wick 4 was an absolute blast. Great! Fans of the franchise loved it so much, they are clamoring for more from the John Wick universe. Great!! A new series billed as “from the world of John Wick” is coming to Peacock in September. Great!!! Mel Gibson is going to star. Gre…wait—what now?
The Continental is a three-part limited series, which takes place 40 years before the John Wick films and centers around the hotel for assassins owned by Ian McShane’s Winston Scott. (Colin Woodell will play a younger version of the character in the series.) The long-gestating project has been in development since 2018, with Gibson’s involvement first announced in 2021.
Due to the actor’s history of domestic violence and making anti-Semitic comments, his casting sparked backlash. “It’s not that Mel Gibson proves cancel culture isn’t a thing,” one Twitter user posted, after the initial announcement. “It’s that hiring Mel Gibson shows society actively doesn’t care about [domestic violence], racism, or antisemitism.”
More than a year later, The Continental’s first teaser trailer—proof that this project is actually happening, after so many years—arrived Wednesday. Still riding on the high from John Wick 4’s awesomeness, fans were eager to celebrate the arrival of more content in the assassin’s universe. But the reminder that Gibson would be in it, for many of them, spoiled the joy.
Of course, they had to remember that Gibson has been attached to the show for nearly two years now. But the trailer shrewdly—if cowardly—hides him completely; there’s no footage of him at all.
“If I was too embarrassed to show a single shot of Mel Gibson in my trailer, perhaps I would simply not hire Mel Gibson in the first place,” Backstage’s Vinnie Mancuso tweeted.
In 2006, Gibson was arrested for a DUI and recorded making anti-Semitic remarks, including, “The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world!” (In an interview with Variety 10 years later, he called it “an unfortunate incident,” adding, “I’ve never discriminated against anyone.”) In 2011, he pleaded no contest to battery for an incident involving his former partner, Oksana Grigorieva.
While there was an intense outcry in the industry following these incidents, Gibson’s continued to book major projects—a fact that is rightly used to dismiss Hollywood players, when they decry the unfairness of cancel culture. He was nominated for a Best Director Oscar in 2017 for Hacksaw Ridge, and even starred in the family film Daddy’s Home 2 that same year.
Will some John Wick fans choose not to watch The Continental because of Gibson’s involvement? That remains to be seen. But on social media, at least, they’re not happy.
Gibson will play a character named Cormac in the series. Like any footage of him at all in the trailer, details of the role are being kept under wraps.
Keep obsessing! Sign up for the Daily Beast’s Obsessed newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.
