The Continental: From the World of John Wick fans are curious to see how the universe evolves without Keanu Reeves as the leading guy.
The prequel miniseries follows Winston Scott, played by Colin Woodell, as he takes on the renowned assassins’ hotel, which is owned by Mel Gibson’s Cormac.
Fans were thrilled to see Merlin alum Katie McGrath as the Adjudicator and other younger incarnations of beloved characters in the clip.
However, given to allegations against Gibson, putting him as the adversary and underworld tycoon key to the assassin safe haven sparked fan outrage.
For numerous years, he has been the target of controversy, with anti-Semitism, homophobia, and domestic violence concerns surrounding him.
Despite this, Gibson has found a fan in one of The Continental’s directors, Charlotte Brandstrom, who praised him.
‘He was extremely kind to the other actors, and especially the younger ones that had no experience,’ shared Brandstrom of her experience with the 67-year-old.
The Rings of Power filmmaker collaborated with Gibson on key and unsettling passages in which the menacing hotel owner revealed his terrible, murderous side.
She continued: ‘[The cast] were always nervous to be with him but he was very patient, very helpful, and very generous. Anything he could do to help the person in front of him – he did.’
Brandstrom loved the fact that the Lethal Weapon star stayed on site during filming rather than going to his trailer between takes.
‘You could see how much he enjoyed being on sets and how much he enjoyed the crew when he was chatting with everybody,’ she added. ‘Very, very kind, and very, very reachable.’
Gibson had already been cast when Brandstrom was brought on board, but she ‘just saw his nice side’.
The director said: ‘I think that the producers chose him because they felt he was just the person, he was bringing something very unique and powerful to the series and that was important to the producers.’
She added: ‘He was very respectful to women on set.’
Gibson has been embroiled in controversy for many years, with the actor experiencing outrage for statements he made towards the LGBTQ+ community in the 1990s.
By 1997, he claimed to have made apologies, backing GLAAD filmmakers and dismissing the remark as a drunken gaffe that would come back to haunt him.
When he was pulled over for drunk driving in 2006, the Mad Max star embarked on an antisemitic diatribe against a police officer.
He admitted to making the ‘despicable’ remarks and apologised, calling it a’moment of craziness’ and promising to engage with Jewish leaders to make restitution.
Accusations of further anti-Semitic remarks from him surfaced again in 2020, when Winona Ryder said he dubbed her a ‘oven-dodger’ at a party.
Gibson’s reps refuted the allegations, calling them “100% untrue” and accusing her of “lying.”
In 2010, a recording surfaced in which he was heard threatening his former partner Oksana Grigorieva, including the use of the n-word.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department started a domestic violence investigation, which was eventually dismissed after he pled no contest to a misdemeanour battery charge.
Gibson was effectively banned by the business for many years and is claimed to have sought treatment for alcoholism.
Despite this tumultuous background, Brandstrom stands behind Gibson’s casting in the miniseries, saying, ‘The cast were all very collaborative.’
She praised the ‘strong female characters’ in the show, sharing: ‘The cast they’re really kick ass, we focused on having some strong woman in there because that was very important to me.
‘[I hoped] they came off well and I think they really do that – all of them.’
The Continental: From The World of John Wick is available to stream on Amazon Prime from September 21.
