The upcoming “Spidey-verse” as a whole is about to take a massive leap forward. In a recent interview, Sony exec Amy Pascal confirmed the expanded Spider-Man universe they are building could some day feature Tom Holland’s Spiderman.
“As for the expansion plans, Tom Hardy is starring in Venom, dated for Oct. 5, 2018, which will also feature the villain Carnage. A source says Holland is only contractually obligated to Spider-Man 2 and 3, but the intention is to bring him into the spinoffs and possibly other Marvel films (he is currently shooting Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War).”
Though, this came as a surprise to head Marvel producer Kevin Feige, the words haven’t been disputed.
Fans of Spider-Man films have been clamoring for a refreshing adaptation of the Venom story, only to be hit with the ultimate news, Carnage being cast as the main antagonist of the film.
“Carnage was once a serial killer known as Cletus Kasady, and became Carnage after merging with the offspring of the alien symbiote called Venom during a prison breakout. The symbiote amplified his psychotic nature making him even less mentally stable than he had been previously, and therefore even more dangerous. An interesting note is that, unlike Venom, Carnage is a singular entity, referring to himself as “I” instead of “We.”
Brandon started Coastal House Media, formerly, BCactionMR.com in 2012, with the intent of publishing news he found exciting about upcoming and current events in the world of comic book, action and sci-fi movies. A year later, "BC" became a Verified Creator (Paid Writer) for Movie Pilot, a large fan site, dedicated to all things pop culture. [2013-2018] After Movie Pilot closed its doors, Brandon decided he wanted to give others the opportunity to continue writing and sharing their passion and excitement for entertainment news. We now have evolved into an ever-growing community of bloggers, writers and gamers who love to share our opinions with the world. We cover everything from pop culture, indie, horror, movies, gaming and streaming, to the most recent film trailers to hit the internet. Coastal House Media is dedicated to J.S.W. Thank you for planting the seed all those years ago. RIP Brother
[…] universe, that will feature many Spider-Man villains minus the wall crawler himself. Recently, Spider-Man super villain Carnage has been touted as the main villain for the upcoming ‘Venom’ […]
Ever since Lionsgate greenlit this series in early 2017, fans of the franchise have been eagerly anticipating to see how the John Wick universe expands. 4 movies in, the John Wick franchise is widely known as one of the greatest action movie franchises of all time with our titular character (a.k.a Baba Yaga) becoming one of the most iconic and bad-ass figures ever in Hollywood. The Continental: From The World of John Wick is a prequel series that tells the story of Winston Scott and how he became the manager of New York’s The Continental branch.
The miniseries was developed by Greg Coolidge, Kirk Ward and Shawn Simmons. It is executive produced by Paul Wernick, Rhett Reese, Derek Kolstad, David Leitch and Chad Stahelski, the director of all four John Wick movies. It is structured as a 3-night event told through three 90-minute episodes. The series was originally supposed to air on Starz, but the network sold it to Peacock in 2022. After 6 years in development, it finally aired on Peacock this September.
A lot has been made of the subtitle of the project ever since it was announced. The fact that the makers needed to include it says a lot about the show. It almost felt like the prime marketing asset for it many times as the other promotional material didn’t necessarily create a lot of hype for the show. Albert Hughes directed the first and third episodes, while Charlotte Branstrom directed the second, and disappointingly both directors do not bring the same novelty or creative prowess that Chad Stahelski managed to bring in the John Wick movies.
The Continental [credit: Peacock]
The show also surprisingly lacks any real star power. This franchise is one of Lionsgate’s most prized assets, so you would imagine that they would make sure to get a big cast and crew for this prequel miniseries, but they didn’t. Colin Woodell as Winston Scott is the clear standout among the cast despite delivering only a decent performance, which says a lot about the acting standards in this 3-episode miniseries. Many have criticized the casting of Mel Gibson in the series, but I personally had no issue with his performance and he’s also the most recognizable member of the cast despite having no real audience pull anymore.
The writing doesn’t offer too much to ponder upon or any seriously shocking turns in the story as most of the focus is on making the product as epic, badass and action-packed as possible. Some of the characters had some interesting layers to them, especially Charon (Ayomide Adegun) and Lou (Jessica Allain). Lemmy (Adam Shapiro) provides some much-needed comic relief with his witty dialogues. The structuring of the story works really well as a 3-night event which sets the high stakes and sets a standard of intensity for the narrative.
The Continental [credit: Peacock]
But the thing that people were most looking forward to, was the action and how it fared against John Wick. Unfortunately, that department was inconsistent as well. Ben Robson’s fight sequence in the early part of the first episode was great and it makes you optimistic that the action would get better from here on, but it never does. Most of the action blocks here involve explosions and guns rather than the hand-to-hand combat John Wick franchise is known for. Some of the action was awesome and some of it sadly wasn’t.
The Continental: From the World of John Wick brings a lot of glamour as it tries to expand its world but fails to engage with its paper-thin plot. The characters are mostly dull with a formulaic villain and misses the presence of a magnetic protagonist like Wick. A prequel about Wick’s backstory would’ve been much more interesting than this inconsistent prequel event saved by its style and some great action. It has almost enough to be its own thing but doesn’t quite have enough to match its parent movies.
The Continental: From the World of John Wick premieres on Peacock in the US and Prime Video in the UK and Australia on 22 September, with new episodes weekly.
[…] universe, that will feature many Spider-Man villains minus the wall crawler himself. Recently, Spider-Man super villain Carnage has been touted as the main villain for the upcoming ‘Venom’ […]