In unexpected but very exciting news, the first star for John Wick prequel series The Continental has been announced, and it’s none other than Mel Gibson, as per Deadline. The Keanu Reeves franchise has become famed for roping in all kinds of action icons and general badasses to populate the movies, and that theme is set to continue on the small screen.
Starz are betting big on the three-night event, with each installment set to cost upwards of $20 million. The story unfolds in the 1970s and traces the rise of Winston through the assassin underworld as he ends up running his own branch of The Continental in New York City, long before he becomes Ian McShane.
Gibson has been cast as a character named Cormac, a crime boss who has Lance Reddick’s future Charon in his employ, and finds himself embroiled in a battle with a fellow gangster named Frankie. Gibson doesn’t pop up on television all that often, so it has to be regarded as a huge get for The Continental, even if his star has faded somewhat over the last decade.
Each of The Continental‘s three episodes are set to run for a feature-length 90 minutes, so there’s going to be plenty of material for Gibson to sink his teeth into as he becomes the latest notable name to board the rapidly expanding John Wick universe, with Chapter 4 coming to theaters next May.