John Wick: Chapter 4 is one of the big box office success stories of 2023, having currently grossed $426 million worldwide, beating out the likes of films like Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. While John Wick: Chapter 4 might have indicated the franchise's end, the series will still live on. Ana de Armas will star in the spin-off film, Ballerina, while controversial star Mel Gibson will lead the television mini-series The Continental.
Update May 21, 2023: This article has been updated with additional information following the release of John Wick: Chapter 4 and more details about the upcoming series The Continental.
The Continental has become the signature location of the series. A hotel filled with assassins that conduct themselves by a set of rules sets up exciting possibilities. As the franchise has gone, more Continentals around the globe have been shown, but they all seem to follow the same basic rules. With The Continental set to premiere on Peacock on September 23, 2023, here is a breakdown of the rules of these hotels in the John Wick universe, as well as the rules of the underground society of assassins.
No "Business" Allowed On Site
The Continental Hotel is on neutral ground, and no hostile actions can take place on its premises. As a sanctuary, it's established early on in the franchise that no "business" can be conducted on the Hotel ground, including fighting and carrying out contracts with other assassins in the hotel. In the first John Wick, Ms. Perkins (played by Adrianne Palicki) breaks this rule, resulting in her revocation and execution. And in the climax of John Wick: Chapter 2, we find our protagonist breaking the very same rule.
In John Wick: Chapter 3, Winston and John refuse to kill each other, and the Adjudicator goes to the Administration to state that the Continental Hotel's "no business" rule is dropped momentarily. After the supposed death of John by Winston, the Adjudicator once again reinstates the "no business" rule for the Continental Hotels. Later, in John Wick: Chapter 4, Winston is severely scolded by Marquis Vincent de Gramont for not actually killing John, and subsequently, Gramont orders that the NYC Continental Hotel be destroyed.
There's No Escaping The Life Of An Assassin
The Continental's manager Winston (played by the reliably superb Ian McShane) sums it up in John Wick: Chapter 2: "You dishonor the marker, you die. You kill the holder of the marker, and you die. You run? You die."
It's implied throughout the series that escaping the assassin's life alive is essentially unheard of. Fate steps in to draw John back into the underworld after his wife Helen dies in the first film. It doesn't matter how profound and merciless the task that is tied to the gold coin is; if it is not carried out, the task is not fulfilled, meaning the original owner and promise of the gold coin now has a hit on his or her head. There is no avoiding it or any jury that can help lessen the penance.
Only One Currency Is Accepted At The Continental
Special gold coins are used to pay for services at the hotel. In the world of John Wick, those who serve under the High Table provide goods and services in exchange for specially minted coins. Throughout the four films, John trades coins for weapons, medical care, lodging, drinks, and favors. While all Continental killers-for-hire, crime bosses, and mobsters must present a gold coin in order to buy themselves any length of time of sanctuary at the hotel, the ordinary guests at the hotel do not know about the coins and must pay in standard ways.
It also becomes clear that the coins are not about wealth. They're about respect. Let's not forget the moment in John Wick 3: Parabellumwhen Berrada (played by Jerome Flynn), who oversees minting coins in Morocco, states that a coin "does not represent monetary value. It represents the commerce of relationships, a social contract in which you agree to partake." Without the Continental Hotel, gold coins cannot be obtained by anyone unless they are making a trade with another member of the underworld. One golden coin is equal to one service by a fellow underworld citizen.
Once Sworn, A Blood Oath Must Be Carried Out
The term "blood oath" is commonly used in the real world to depict an unbreakable promise. Historically speaking, several cultures had various forms of blood oaths that involved the actual letting of blood, sometimes mixing it with a handshake as a sign of commitment. In the world of John Wick, a "marker" is a blood oath between two individuals. In John Wick: Chapter 2, John is obligated to accept a blood oath because Santino D'Antonio (played by Riccardo Scamarcio) helped Wick leave the criminal world so that he could marry his late wife, Helen.
Markers are also formally witnessed or recognized. It's not just any blood oath. When committing to a blood oath, the pledge presses a bloody thumb to the right half of a circular device called a marker. This amulet goes on to bind the two people until the receiver of the marker chooses to use the services provided by the original owner of the marker amulet. This is a commitment of blood, meaning the debtor is swearing to fulfill the oath with the blood, symbolizing the penalty for breaking a blood oath. Markers cannot be changed, forfeited, or bargained. If a person does not fulfill the promise stated once the marker is presented to the receiver, the receiver can kill the original owner of the marker in penance.
Assisting Excommunicado Members Is Prohibited
Violating the rules of the hotel can be punished by excommunication, which is an open contract on one's life. In the John Wick universe, excommunicado is a state in which a former Continental member breaches the rules of the organization and loses all of their rights. This means that the individual is not protected by the Continental and can be killed without consequences. Also, no one is supposed to help excommunicated individuals. Often trying to interact will result in harsher penalties.
At the end of John Wick: Chapter 2, John is rendered excommunicado by Winston after killing D'Antonio on Continental grounds. In John Wick: Chapter 3: Parrabelum, Winston is delivered excommunicado because he allowed Wick an extra hour before his official excommunicado began, which was massively against the rules, and found Winston banished from the hotel altogether and stripped of his ownership of the hotel. Later, once he is found to have killed Wick, he is once again given his rights to the hotel back, but this victory is short-lived, as in John Wick: Chapter 4, his Continental was destroyed. With an entire television mini-series set at the Continental, it will be interesting to see the culture of the institution explored in more detail.
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