In John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Winston said he’d been in service to the High Table for over 40 years. Soon Peacock’s prequel spinoff series The Continental will show us how he got his start running a hotel for world-class assassins. But the origin story teased in the series’ latest trailer isn’t one we expected to see. The man who went on became the manager of John Wick’s favorite hotel first went to war against it.

We all have to start somewhere when we enter the workforce, but most of us don’t have to start with a battle against so many professional killers. That’s pretty much the norm in the world of John Wick, though. So maybe the latest trailer for The Continental, which focuses on how Winston Scott got his start at the hotel by attacking it, shouldn’t totally surprise us. What is surprising to learn is how personal his connection to the venue really was.

Here’s the show’s official synopsis from Peacock to bring the trailer into focus:

The three-part event will explore the origin behind the iconic hotel-for-assassins centerpiece of the John Wick universe through the eyes and actions of a young Winston Scott, as he’s dragged into the Hell-scape of 1970’s New York City to face a past he thought he’d left behind. Winston charts a deadly course through the hotel’s mysterious underworld in a harrowing attempt to seize the hotel where he will eventually take his future throne.   

Two men hold a young Winston by the arms on The Continental
Lionsgate/Peacock

The Continental is developed, written, and executive produced by Greg Coolidge, Kirk Ward, Shawn Simmons. Albert Hughes directs the first and third installments, with Charlotte Brandstrom leading the second. It stars Colin Woodell as young Winston and Ayomide Adegun as young Charon. Joining them on the show are: Mishel Prada, Ben Robson, Hubert Point-Du Jour, Nhung Kate, Jessica Allain, Ayomide Adegun, Jeremy Bobb, Peter Greene, and, for reasons that remain baffling and inexcusable, Mel Gibson.

Like Winston, the show has to start somewhere. (And by somewhere we don’t mean a very funky, very stylish, VERY weird 1970s New York City.) The first episode debuts at Peacock on Friday, September 22. The second follows one week later on Friday, September 29 before the finale airs on Friday, October 6.