Ian McShane isn’t set to appear in the upcoming John Wick spinoff series The Continental. John Wick seemingly came out of nowhere in 2014 to become one of the best action movies in recent memory. It provided Keanu Reeves with his best role in years and featured a great supporting cast and action sequences. The movie also did a surprising amount of worldbuilding and set up a whole, dense mythology surrounding the Continental hotel and its underworld of assassins.

John Wick: Chapter 2 expanded the universe even further, with a story that involved John being betrayed by a client and forced to fight off a wave of assassins to seek revenge. The sequel ended on a major cliffhanger, with John being excommunicated after breaking the rules of the Continental and a major contract being placed on his head. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum will pick up from this ending, with John having to fight his way out of New York. Halle Berry and Jason Mantzoukas are new additions to the cast.

In addition to John Wick: Chapter 3, the franchise is set to continue in the form of the spinoff show The Continental. Last year reports emerged Ian McShane – who plays the titular hotel’s sage manager Winston – could reappear on the series, but in a new chat with Rotten Tomatoes, the actor appears to rule this out.

The Continental is being developed by Starz, who also make McShane’s series American Gods. The actor’s relationship with the network might be enough to convince him to make a voiceover or even a brief cameo, but it doesn’t sound like he’s interested in committing to another show. The timeline of the series has yet to be confirmed either, so it could be set before or after the events of the current John Wick movie franchise. The main character of The Continental is said to be a character who doesn’t start out as an assassin, but who has ties to the underworld.

No. But I may give ’em a voiceover. A series, no. They talked about that.

The Continental is also due to contain the same style of action gunplay as the John Wick movies, and Keanu Reeves – who acts as executive producer on the show – is expected to make an appearance. It’s a pity McShane won’t be involved with the show as he’s always a welcome face, but the series itself has a lot of potential to flesh out the franchise even further. There’s also no word on whether Lance Reddick, who plays the Continental’s concierge Charon, will return for the show.

More: John Wick 3 Director Has ‘Idea’ For More Sequels

Source: Rotten Tomatoes

  • John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum Release Date: 2019-05-17