While the show will apparently have a somewhat lighter tone, audiences should not make the mistake that this will get MCU-fied as it still contains plenty of amazing action, full of blood and gore. Set in the world of 1970’s New York City, the show will dive deeper into the franchise’s obscure criminal mythology, exploring both the origins of the eponymous hotel for assassins in New York, as well as how actor Ian McShane’s character Winston Scott became the proprietor of its New York branch.
As reported by Collider, the panel opened with a behind-the-scenes featurette, with a long intro primarily focusing on the setting and the new environments. The footage also showcased familiar settings from the movies such as the lobby and the rooftop of the Continental hotel.
The footage also focused on the show’s central characters such as a young Winston, the fearsome current continental manager Cormac, the currently nameless concierge (Sallay Garnett), the wise-cracking Lemmy (Adam Shapiro), and a younger version of Charon (Ayomide Adegun) – the fan-favourite concierge from the ‘John Wick’ films who was portrayed by the late Lance Reddick.
None of the actors or writers of the series were present due to the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, though the panel still took place with several members of the creative team, including executive producer and director Albert Hughes alongside executive producer Marshall Pershinger, action director Larnell Stovall, production designer Drew Boughton, and editor Ron Rosen.
According to Collider, while the John Wick films have always had elements of humor, the featurette shows that there will be a slightly larger emphasis on levity. The character of Lemmy in particular looks to be something of a comic relief figure.
The show’s first clip reportedly takes place during the show’s first episode and depicts a heist gone wrong, where a character named Frankie (Ben Robson) is caught stealing a mysterious box that the shadowy High Table covets.
The sequence going in true John Wick spirit proceeds with an action scene where Frankie takes on a horde of goons in a nearby stairwell in an intense action sequence filled with long takes, tons of blood, and very creative kills.
Not only does this entire sequence contain the brutal and extremely well choreographed action which the franchise is known for, but the character of Frankie boasts a look very similar to Keanu Reeves’ own killer, with a slick suit, handgun and long hair.
–IANS
anv/kvd
