Keanu Reeves is back as our favorite master assassin in John Wick: Chapter 4.
The film doesn’t hit theaters until March 2023, but that didn’t stop Keanu Reeves from stopping by Comic-Con to present a teaser for John Wick Chapter 4, simply titled John Wick (which can be confusing given that this is also the title of the original film that launched the entire franchise). According to Deadline Hollywood, Reeves crashed Collider’s directors at the director’s panel, which included 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 hitman (known as the Boogeyman or “Baba Yaga”) who tried to retire when he fell in love and he fell in love married Unfortunately, he has returned to the dark underworld for an act of senseless violence after the death of his wife. Nothing will stop John Wick from seeking retribution. 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, thrilling action sequences, and noir style .
So naturally there was a sequel. In John Wick: Chapter Two, Wick faces a host of Russian bad guys, but finds himself bound by honor (according to the code of the professional hitman) to do one last job. Of course he succeeds, he’s John Wick, but the client, Italian crime lord Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio), tries to cover his tracks by putting a bounty on Wick’s head. Wick ends up killing Santino, newly appointed to the High Table, inside New York’s Continental Hotel, which is supposed to be a safe space for assassins, and is declared “excommunicated”, removing him from all resources that usually the undercover hitman. provides
And that’s where John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum picked up, with Wick scrambling to find allies (and ammunition) to fight almost the entire underworld of assassins, all of whom are eager to claim the $14 million bounty on his head The title refers to the old adage, Si vis pacem, para bellum: “If you want peace, prepare for war.” Wick essentially declared war on the High Table, and the escalation unfolded exactly as you’d expect when every dog lover’s favorite hitman is involved.
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John is training hard for the upcoming mega fight.
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Ian McShane is back as the traitorous Winston.
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So is Lance Reddick as Charon, the concierge at New York’s Continental Hotel
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There are also some 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 a final twist that perfectly set up John Wick: Chapter 4. John negotiated a deal with the old man for forgiveness of his many transgressions against the High Table in exchange for killing Winston (Ian McShane), manager of the New York Continental Hotel. where Wick killed Santino. This is because Winston had 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 pretty much killed them all. In the subsequent suit 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 henchmen of the badly injured Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne), and the two promised to cooperate in 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 this was open to interpretation, but either way, we’ll definitely see some fallout from Winston’s choice in Chapter 4. Stahleski made one thing abundantly clear in an interview with IndieWire with profanity : After mercilessly killing over 300 people (so far), John might survive, but he won’t be riding off into the sunset with a new love interest. “In the end, there is no happy ending,” he said. “He has nowhere to go.”
All four return for this installment: Reeves, McShane, Fishburne and Lance Reddick as Charon, the urban janitor of the NYC Continental. 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 a couple of her music videos, so we can definitely expect some fight choreography to play to her strengths. The cast also includes 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? Franchise fans know what they want and trust Stahleski to deliver. The teaser offers. We see footage of John hitting a rope pole, already bloodied from constant use, amidst a mix of action shots: there are samurai swords, nunchucks, bows and arrows, dog fu, daggers, and of course guns, pistols, etc. guns “Have you thought about where this ends?” a man asks Joan. “The Table will never stop. You know that. No one, not even you, can kill everyone.”
But John Wick never stops either. Yes, there will be a chapter 5; the studio wanted to film it simultaneously with Chapter 4, but between the pandemic and Reeves’ scheduling conflict due to filming The Matrix Resurrections, he decided to focus only on the fourth installment. Reeves has said that he will continue to make John Wick movies as long as they continue to make money. Parabellum grossed $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, a spinoff film, Ballerina, is already in development, with Ana de Arnas playing a young woman raised to be an assassin who vows revenge on the killers who killed her family. A key scene in Parabellum depicted a training school for young girls, similar to the one where John Wick was raised, involving intense ballet training. The spin-off film will focus on the adult version of one of these girls. Also in development is a limited TV series, The Continental, centered on a young Winston in the 1970s, played by Colin Woodell.
John Wick: Chapter 4 is scheduled to hit theaters on March 24, 2023.
List image from YouTube/Lionsgate