John Wick changed action movies. The Continental might change action TV

It is difficult to create a television spin-off for the most popular action franchise in the last century.

There’s the delicate balance of fan expectations from previous entries with the desire to see something new. And then there’s the massive difference between the size of most TV productions and the size of blockbuster action movies.

That’s something Continental Larnell Stovall was up to the challenge of bringing John Wick’s world into the three-episode Peacock Miniseries. When speaking to Polygon about the team’s approach to the show’s thrilling action sequences, he stressed the fine line of homage and originality, and how one has to follow the other.

Nhung Kate as Yen in The Continental standing over someone and punching them

“You have to respect the filming style,” Stovall says. “John Wick is known for wider shots where you can truly see the actors. It’s not lit too dark, where you can’t make out what’s happening.”

Respect is apparent from the first moment. Continental. While the ’70s setting brings a new kind of sleaze to the series, the action will be familiar to anyone who’s caught a John Wick film before. There’s a party at the titular hotel, where loud music provides unknowing cover for a heist. You might imagine that the heist turns out to be a failure and all the residents of the hotel start pulling their weapons. In the span of one scene, ContinentalIt is now firmly a part the John Wick Universe.

We follow a character, Wick-like in both appearance and mannerisms, who steals something from The Continental’s vault, then fights his way into a stairwell, with bullets flying everywhere. The entire sequence is a tightly choreographed showcase of the gun-fu the series is known for, but with a bit of ’70s flair to mix things up. Our apparent hero is surrounded by a swarm of enemies, but he dispatches them quickly with tapped bullets to the heads, whipping away their bodies so he can step neatly over. The whole thing is John Wick to a T, but in a slightly different font than the movies — exactly enough to make it read totally fresh.

Ben Robson as Frankie in The Continental surrounded by Colin Woodell as Winston and Nhung Kate as Yen

Each John Wick movie has had action led by a different member of director Chad Stahelski’s prestigious 87eleven Action Design studio, where actors and stunt professionals gather to train and design action sequences for some of Hollywood’s biggest projects. The studio and its professionals have been so successful that it’s a rarity to get a lot of 87eleven people on the same project; at any given moment, they’re all spread around the world spearheading various action projects or action units on non-action projects. Now it’s Stovall’s turn to get his hands on the Wick franchise.

Stovall has extensive experience as a stuntman, a fight choreographer and directing second units. Recently, his television work has been the most notable. Titans You can also find out more about the following: Altered CarbonThe action film faithful will recognize Stovall as the fight choreographer of two of the most important and influential action films of 2010: Scott Adkins’ vehicles Universal Soldier Day of Reckoning You can also find out more about the following: Undisputed 3 Redemption. Both movies share a lot in common with John Wick’s approach to action; they’re known for incredible fight sequences that make full use of the incredible martial artists in the cast, leaning on long, wide shots to show as much of the brutal action as possible.

This experience of hard-hitting combats proved to be very helpful for ContinentalThis show is full of action, including hand-to -hand fighting, gunfights of epic proportions, as well as a wide range of martial art techniques. Stovall got the call from Stahelski with an offer to join the franchise (he told Polygon he didn’t answer at first because he thought it was a butt dial), packed his bags, and went to Budapest to shoot the new Peacock show.

But before Stovall could make his mark on the series, he knew he’d have to prove to fans he was up for it. This is why the opening fight on the stairs feels like a movie.

Hubert Point-Du Jour as Miles and Jessica Allain as Lou in The Continental standing in a destroyed room ready for a fight

“First episode, first 10 minutes to say: Hey, we got you, we know what you’re here for. We know what you want to see, here’s a taste,” Stovall explains. “Then you get to sit back and enjoy what is our flavor and our voice in this world.”

Stovall’s first big challenge was part of the show’s main selling point: ContinentalIt is not a sequel. The movies are a good starting point but the world of John Wick is characterized by action, violence, and fighting. Stovall was challenged to find a way to make the show feel like an action movie that fans would recognize. On top of that, Stovall knew the rest of the show was centered around New York in the ’70s, which means hustlers, small-time criminals, violent streets, and a whole world of grimy meanness lurking just out of view of the monied elite.

“We had to be careful because the ’70s had its own flavor, its own way of doing things,” Stovall says. “It was very in your face. The music was unique, sometimes cheesy but it worked in the timeframe. We had to learn how to walk that thin line. What is the correct time to pose? What is the duration of a kick or punch? They overexaggerated a lot. And we had to respect that.”

The fighting is a more practical way of putting it. Continental It’s designed to be messier. It’s faster, less methodical, more chaotic, and viciously brutal. John’s grace is replaced by the same kind of scuzzy ’70s whatever-doesn’t-get-you-killed grease that so lovingly coats the rest of the show, and differentiates it from the original series it spun off of. The show is not adorned with elegant sport jackets lined in kevlar. There’s no huddled behind a tech-laden AR-15 or delicately hiding. Fights In ContinentalThese are violent affairs that have indelicate endings, as in a shotgun blast to the head instead of six bullets.

But while the show’s set-pieces and action are all more intimate and instinctual than the practiced precision of the films — a perfect change to fit the franchise’s move to TV — even the choreography itself lends to Continental’s change in eras.

Marina Mazepa as Gretel, Mark Musashi as Hansel pointing guns at Colin Woodell as Winston in The Continental

One of the biggest differences that will jump out at fans of the franchise is the relative lack of judo throws — especially the judo-throw-into-headshot move that has become a John Wick signature. Stovall says he was “grateful” for the relative lack of gun-fu and judo in the series, because it allowed the action team to express themselves even more.

“I’m very, very particular about the final product,” Stovall says. “If I can get anywhere between 90 to 95% as far as final expression… I think ContinentalThe closest [I’ve done]Something like an Undisputed 3The actors are shown in a fighting scene. Their stories, the editing was on point, the camerawork was on point, because those are all factors that can throw off great action design easily.”

Of course, the risk of adding to any franchise is that the changes you bring won’t sit well with longtime fans. If you make any changes to what’s already working, diehard fans may decide to leave the bandwagon. But Stovall isn’t too concerned about that here. Stovall, who is an action expert, knows how to please John Wick’s fans.

“If [fans] can be patient enough, and just enjoy our voice in this, I think they will find they might enjoy this just as much as well,” Stovall says. “We were able to find our voice within that, but yet make sure you felt some of that Wick-ish flavor.”

ContinentalPremieres Sept. 22 with the first episode of three.

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