Keanu Reeves returns as our favorite master assassin in John Wick: Chapter 4.
The film won’t hit theaters until March 2023, but that didn’t stop Keanu Reeves from heading to Comic-Con to present a short teaser for John Wick Chapter 4, simply titled John Wick (which may be confusing, considering it’s also the title of the original film that launched the entire franchise). According to Deadline Hollywood, Reeves cracked Collider’s Directors Panel on Directing, which featured John Wick: Chapter 4 director Chad Stahelski as a panelist.
(Spoilers for the first three films in the franchise below.)
As I wrote earlier, for the benefit of those who missed the first three films, John Wick (Reeves) is a legendary assassin (known as the Boogeyman or “Baba Yaga”) who tried to retire when he fell in love and got married. Unfortunately, he is drawn back into the dark underworld by an act of senseless violence following the death of his wife. Nothing will stop John Wick from seeking revenge. The first John Wick grossed more than $88 million worldwide for a film that cost about $30 million to make, and was praised for its fast pace, heart-stopping action sequences and stylish noir feel.
So naturally there was a sequel. In John Wick: Chapter Two, Wick faces off against a bunch of Russian villains, but finds himself bound by honor (according to the code of the professional assassin) to complete one final assignment. Of course he succeeds – he’s John Wick – but the client, Italian crime boss Santino D’Antonio (Ricardo Scamarcio), tries to cover his tracks by putting a bounty on Wick’s head. Wick ends up murdering Santino—newly named to the High Table—at the Continental Hotel in New York City, which is supposed to be a safe haven for assassins, and is declared “excommunicated,” cutting him off from all the resources an assassin underground would normally provide. .
And that’s where John Wick: Chapter 3—Parabellum begins, with Wick scrambling to find allies (and ammo) to take on nearly the entire underworld of assassins, all very eager to claim the $14 million reward for his head. The title refers to the old saying Si vis pacem, para bellum: “If you want peace, prepare for war.” Wick essentially declared war on the High Table, and the escalation unfolded just as you’d expect when everyone’s favorite dog-loving assassin is involved.
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John is training hard for the upcoming mega fight.
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Ian McShane returns as the devious Winston.
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So is Lance Reddick as Charon, the doorman at New York’s Continental Hotel
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There are also new faces in the mix.
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“Are you ready John?” Laurence Fishburne’s Bowery King is a rare ally.
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Parabellum ended with one final twist that nicely set up John Wick: Chapter 4. John negotiated a deal with the elder to forgive his many transgressions against the High Table in exchange for killing Winston (Ian McShane), manager of the NYC Continental Hotel where Wick killed Santino. This is because Winston has refused the order to abdicate his position as punishment for helping John. But when the time came, John refused to complete the mission.
So the High Table sent in their army of assassins, Winston provided the firepower, and John killed almost all of them. In the ensuing negotiation with the Adjudicator, Winston declared allegiance to the High Table and shot John, who fell from the roof to the ground. He survived and was rescued by the servants of the badly wounded Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne), and the two vowed to work together to get revenge.
The big question is whether Winston’s betrayal was a calculated move. Did he really want to kill John? Stahelski told Digital Spy in 2020 that it’s open to interpretation, but either way, we’re definitely going to see some fallout from Winston’s choice in Chapter 4. Stahleski made one thing very clear in a profanity-laced interview with IndieWire: after relentless killing over 300 people (so far), John may survive, but he won’t be riding off into the sunset with a new love. “There is no happy ending at the end of this,” he said. “He has nowhere to go.”
The four principals return in this installment: Reeves, McShane, Fishburne and Lance Reddick as Charon, the NYC Continental’s city janitor. Among the new characters is Akira, played by Japanese singer-songwriter Rina Sawayama in her feature film debut. She was cast after Stahelski saw her combine dance and martial arts in several of her music videos, so we can definitely expect some fight choreography to play up her strengths. The cast also includes top Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, Bill Skarsgård, Clancy Brown and Scott Adkins in undisclosed roles.
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Chapter 4 will take place in Japan, America, Paris, Berlin and Jordan. There aren’t many plot details in the Comic-Con teaser, but do we need any? Fans of the franchise know what they want and trust Stahleski to deliver. The teaser delivers. We see images of John hitting a rope pole, already bloodied from constant use, between multiple action shots: there are samurai swords, nunchucks, bows and arrows, “dog foo”, daggers and of course, pistols, pistols, rifles. “Have you thought about where this ends?” John asks a man. “The mass will never stop. You know that. No one, not even you, can kill them all.”
But John Wick never stops either. Yes, there will be a chapter 5; the studio intended to shoot it at the same time as Chapter 4, but between the pandemic and Reeves’ schedule conflict due to filming The Matrix Resurrections, decided to focus only on the fourth installment. Reeves said he will continue to make John Wick movies as long as they continue to make money. Parabellum earned $362 million worldwide. If the next two chapters do as well (or better), the franchise will be with us for a long time.
In fact, there’s already a spinoff, Ballerina, in development, starring Ana de Arnas as a young woman raised to be an assassin, vowing revenge on the killers who killed her family. A key scene in Parabellum depicts a training school for young girls, similar to the one John Wick was raised in, featuring intensive ballet training. The spinoff film will focus on the adult version of one of these girls. There is also a limited TV series in development, The Continental, focusing on a young Winston in the 1970s, played by Colin Woodall.
John Wick: Chapter 4 is scheduled to hit theaters on March 24, 2023.
List image from YouTube/Lionsgate
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