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(Photo by Lionsgate)
It’s been eight years since Keanu Reeves’ John Wick went on a revenge rampage after a bunch of baddies broke into his house and killed his puppy – and his taste for revenge has not changed much. We still miss that puppy, though.
Since the first film, Chad Stahelski’s John Wick has quickly become a cult classic, and it began something of a modern “Keanussance” that continued with John Wick: Chapter 2 and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. And come March 24, 2023 we will be treated to John Wick: Chapter 4, which will be helmed again by Stahelski, directing from a script written by Shay Hatten (John Wick: Chapter 3, Army of the Dead) and Michael Finch (Predators, Hitman: Agent 47).
On top of that, there has been a slow boil of news coming out regarding the plot, and we were given more details about the movie in the theatrical trailer. Here’s a breakdown of what our favorite – and seemingly invincible – assassin has been up to and everything we know about John Wick: Chapter 4.
Diving deep into the Wick-iverse
(Photo by Lionsgate)
The official synopsis of John Wick: Chapter 4 reads: “John Wick uncovers a path to defeating the High Table. But before he can earn his freedom, Wick must face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe and forces that turn old friends into foes.”
Of course, we can expect lots of action scenes and “gun-fu” fight choreography with Stahelski’s signature written all over it. As seen in the trailer, set to a cool, echoey remix of Terry Jacks’ “Seasons in the Sun,” we are definitely going to dive deeper into the mythology of the Wick-iverse and learn new things about John.
In an interview with Empire, the director gave us an idea of what to expect in the sequel, saying, “If you took The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, crossed it with Zatoichi, and threw in a Greek myth, you’d probably get something close to this.”
John's back and he's brought some friends along
(Photo by Lionsgate)
Keanu Reeves is back and badder than ever as the titular deadly assassin with effortless hair. The last time we saw him was in Parabellum when he was being double crossed by Winston (Ian McShane), who shot him off a roof – but Mr. Wick survives! We see him delivered to the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne), with whom he agrees to team up to take down the High Table, the council of crime lords who govern the underworld’s most powerful criminal organizations.
In addition to McShane and Fishburne reprising their roles, Lance Reddick returns as the Continental concierge Charon. They will be joined by an incredible cast, including Ip Man icon Donnie Yen, who plays Caine, one of John’s old assassin buds. The trailer indicates there will be a scene where they try to kill each other, which will be a treat.
Japanese legend Hiroyuki Sanada also stars as Shimazu, while Japanese-British pop star Rina Sawayama also joins the cast in her feature acting debut. Bill Skarsgård steps in as new baddie Marquis de Gramont, who offers John his freedom from the High Table if he defeats him in combat.
The cast also includes Scott Adkins, Clancy Brown, Shamier Anderson, and Marko Zaror, as well as George Georgiou, who replaces Saïd Taghmaoui as The Elder.
Spoiler alert: Everyone lives unhappily ever after
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If you’ve been paying attention, you know that it’s highly unlikely Chapter 4 spells a happy ending for John, who never seems to catch a break. Stahelski pretty much confirmed this in an interview with IndieWire, saying, “John may survive all this s–t, but at the end of it, there’s no happy ending.”
He continued, “Do you think he’s going to ride off into the f–king sunset? He’s killed 300 f–king people and he’s just going to [walk away], everything’s okay? He’s just going to fall in love with a love interest? If you’re this f–king guy, if this guy really exist[ed], how is this guy’s day going to end? He’s f–ked for the rest of his life. It’s just a matter of time.”
On the bright side, this means we’ll get to spend more time with John: Chapter 4 is set to have the longest runtime of any of the installments thus far, landing in the 150-minute range.
The Wick-iverse is expanding
(Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)
Just when you thought that there weren’t enough assassins in the Wick-iverse, it was announced that Lionsgate is working on a John Wick spin-off movie called Ballerina starring Ana de Armas and directed by Len Wiseman (Live Free or Die Hard, the Underworld franchise).
Co-written by Wiseman and Shay Hatten, the movie follows a killer assassin (de Armas) who vows revenge when her family is killed by hitmen – sounds awfully familiar, but we’re here for it.
THR recently announced that Anjelica Huston will be reprising her role as the head of the Ruska Roma crime organization known as the Director, originally introduced in John Wick: Chapter 3. The spin-off will also welcome McShane, who will appear as Winston, and Reeves is currently in talks to appear as John Wick.
(Photo by Lionsgate)
In addition to Ballerina, which doesn’t yet have a release date, it was announced that there will be a prequel TV series titled The Continental, expected to be released on Peaco*ck later in 2023.
As the title suggests, the series will explore the origin story of the Continental Hotel, which is essentially an entire separate character in the franchise.
The Continental will follow young manager Winston Scott (Colin Woodell) in 1975 New York as he faces a past he left behind. In an attempt to seize control of the iconic hotel, which serves as a meeting point for the world’s most dangerous criminals, Winston charts a deadly course through the mysterious underworld of New York City.
The series, which initially was set for STARZ before moving to Peaco*ck, will also feature a young Charon played by Ayomide Adegun and will star Peter Greene, Ben Robson, Hubert Point-Du Jour, Jessica Allain, Mishel Pradaand Kate Nhung. Sadly, it seems like the series will not feature a young John Wick – at least, not that we know of. You can read more details about The Contentinental here.
Will there be a 'John Wick: Chapter 5'?
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Last we heard, yes.
It was announced in August 2020 that John Wick: Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 were set to film back-to-back. We were also supposed to get Chapter 4 in 2022. Initially, the sequel was set to hit theaters on Memorial Day weekend, but it seems like a combination of scheduling and COVID surges prevented all of this from happening.
As a result, the sequels ended up not filming back-to-back, and Lionsgate decided to only move forward with John Wick: Chapter 4. There haven’t been any updates as to whether or not there will be a John Wick: Chapter 5, but we’re betting on yes.
John Wick: Chapter 4 opens in theaters on March 24, 2023. Get your tickets right here!
