Before Ballerina, The John Wick Universe Expanded With This TV Show Fans Wish To Forget

It's a dangerous game to try and mix things up with a franchise, even more so when you dare to spin-off a big screen universe into a television show. That's the issue the "John Wick" property ran into when someone got the bright idea to give us "The Continental," a prequel series that explored how Winston (who's played by Ian McShane as an older man in the "John Wick" movies) came into ownership of the titular hotel — a place where assassins can kick off their shoes and spend a few nights knowing their fellow hit-people are forbidden from killing anyone on the consecrated ground. But while "The Continental" was based on an interesting idea, its execution was anything but successful, with the show earning a pretty harsh response from critics.

/FIlm's own Jeremy Mathai called "The Continental" a "lifeless, joyless, and ultimately pointless return to the Wick-verse" in his review, and while the series might've earned a serviceable 63% on Rotten Tomatoes, it's not widely regarded as one of the more popular installments in the "John Wick" universe. That being said, even the Ana de Armas-starring spin-off film "Ballerina" has a 76%, albeit with a disappointing box office opening, which could put future stories that don't involve the Baba Yaga directly at risk. So, what was it that "The Continental" got so wrong (as opposed to "Ballerina," which managed to get at least a few steps right)? Well, one of the founding fathers of this franchise — which, don't forget, began with a car and a dog — has had a few words to say about that, as has the original Winston himself.

While promoting "Ballerina," Chad Stahelski (the director of the first four "John Wick" films) weighed in on the misfire of "The Continental" and suggested that it merely had the wrong people opening the doors to the eponymous establishment (as opposed to the folks responsible for making some of the best action movies ever). Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Stahelski theorized:

"A group of individuals thought they had the magic sauce. But if you take out Basil Iwanyk's producing intuitiveness, if you take out [Keanu Reeves'] way of delivering quirky dialogue, and if you take out all the visuals I have in my head from Wong Kar-wai, anime, [Sergio] Leone, Bernardo [Bertolucci], or Andrei Tchaikovsky ... then it's not the same thing."

McShane has also had a few choice words about "The Continental," having stated that he had no intention of giving it any engagement. "It had nothing to do with our movies. It's just a question of a TV company cashing in on the series and taking the option to [air?]," he told MovieWeb. "They never asked us about anything, so why would I be interested in seeing it? I'm afraid their arrogance in getting the show out is beyond me, so I wish them well." As it stands, the next on the hitlist of "John Wick" spin-offs is Donnie Yen's Caine movie, which he's also rumored to direct. Hopefully, he'll have a better shot at expanding the "Wick" universe, and we can all forget about the one bad stay we had at the legendary hitman's hotel of choice.