10 Decisions That Have Already Doomed Upcoming TV Shows
2. Casting Mel Gibson - The Continental
Way back in 2017, it was announced that a TV spin-off of the John Wick franchise, The Continental, was in the works. And easy though it was to sniff at the show airing on Starz and then moving to Peacock, what might actually sink it is the head-scratching decision to cast Mel Gibson in a major role.
The series, which will focus on a young Winston in the 1970s, has cast Gibson in a part many are assuming to be the show's primary villain.
Either way, given Gibson's massively problematic standing in the industry, it's a casting choice that's immediately going to turn off large swaths of viewers.
While there are of course many who couldn't care less about Gibson's views and troubled personal life - he is, after all, an acclaimed actor and filmmaker - his presence will nevertheless bring a tidal wave of undesirable press to the project and possibly place an inescapably dark cloud over it.
Given the many, many A-list actors who would surely jump at the chance to star in a John Wick series, deferring to a majorly contentious actor with a toxic reputation seems like a recipe for disaster, no matter how good the show otherwise is.