Summary
- John Wick: Chapter 4 provided a perfect ending, so John Wick 5 could undermine the flawless conclusion.
- The decision to kill off John Wick was unexpected and bold, and bringing him back from the dead would cheapen the emotional impact.
- Making a prequel or focusing on a different main character for John Wick 5 would not only diminish the stakes and storytelling potential but also create budgetary and narrative issues.
- Despite these concerns, Lionsgate will likely pursue John Wick 5 due to the franchise’s financial success.
John Wick: Chapter 4 ended the series perfectly, meaning John Wick 5 is a terrible idea that would undermine the flawless ending. The John Wick series started in 2014 with a low-budget 100-minute action movie, and since then, it has grown into this expansive world with detailed lore, and the movies are full of some of the most impressive action sequences ever shot. However, the heart of the series is John Wick (Keanu Reeves) himself, and his seemingly neverending quest for revenge and to escape the assassin’s life has always been engaging, but that quest did come to an end in John Wick: Chapter 4.
The fourquel ends with John’s death, as he’s killed by Caine in a duel. However, John Wick: Chapter 4’s ending isn’t upsetting, as John is finally at peace and believes there’s a chance of seeing his wife, Helen, again. Nevertheless, despite the definitive ending, Lionsgate is still developing John Wick 5. Motion Picture Group chairman Joe Drake explained, “What is official is that, as you know, Ballerina is the first spinoff that comes out next year. We’re in development on three others, including [John Wick 5].” While the franchise can naturally grow with spinoffs based on the series’ unique characters, there’s no way John Wick 5 can work.
John Wick Can’t Return From The Dead In John Wick 5
Director Chad Stahelski made a bold move to kill off John Wick when there’s potential for more movies, and it’s actually a surprise that the studio allowed it. While Lionsgate still plans on making John Wick 5, the studio has written itself into a corner. Though John Wick is the powerful Baba Yaga and somebody everybody is afraid of, there’s no way that he can come back from the dead. There’s also the option of revealing that John never died at the end of John Wick: Chapter 4 and that he and Winston faked everything, but that would totally undermine John’s heartfelt and very meaningful death.
There was actually an alternative John Wick: Chapter 4 ending. The ending saw John survive, and it was likely a simply shot of John Wick in the cemetery watching Winston and The Bowery King at his grave from afar, confirming that he never actually died. There are hints of this shot still in the scene, such as the dog looking up as if it noticed something or someone watching. However, the very reason that shot isn’t in John Wick: Chapter 4 is that it tested badly with audiences during test screenings, which itself proves that undoing that bold ending would have a negative reception from fans.
A Prequel Set Before John Wick 4 Would Be Underwhelming & Have Timeline Issues
Another alternative way John Wick 5 could happen without ruining the ending of John Wick: Chapter 4 would be to make a prequel, but that has major issues of its own. One of the many great ways Stahelski made each John Wick movie better than the last was by constantly raising the stakes, and with John Wick: Chapter 4, John’s death was so hard-hitting because it was unexpected. However, those higher stakes simply can’t happen with a John Wick prequel. Not only that but the legendary John Wick stories that villains talk about in fear have already been shown on-screen, such as John killing three men with one pencil.
A prequel movie also raises issues when it comes to the budget. The John Wick series has become so successful thanks to how far Stahelski can stretch a budget, as the globe-trotting John Wick: Chapter 4 looks like a $200 million movie but only cost $100 million. However, Reeves would obviously have to be de-aged for the prequel given that it’d likely be set at least a full decade before 2014’s John Wick.
Based on the sky-high budgets of movies such as Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and The Irishman, de-aging is extremely expensive. John Wick: Chapter 4 made $432 million (via Box Office Mojo), which is great for a $100 million movie, but for a film that costs $200 million, that gross would be a huge disappointment, so a prequel simply isn’t financially viable.
John Wick 5 Can’t Continue With Another Main Character
There are so many loose ends in John Wick: Chapter 4 surrounding the supporting characters that will clearly be answered in future installments of the franchise. John Wick: Chapter 4’s Mr. Nobody clearly needed a large sum of money for something, but the movie never reveals why. However, those loose ends will likely be answered in spinoffs, as Lionsgate has talked endlessly about John Wick spinoff movies. A spinoff TV show, The Continental, will be released in September, and Ballerina, a spinoff about a new female assassin, which will also feature Reeves as John Wick, will be released in 2024.
However, one thing that would avoid ruining John Wick: Chapter 4’s ending is to focus John Wick 5 on a different main character instead of the Baba Yaga. John Wick: Chapter 4’s post-credits scene sees Akira about to attack Caine in Paris with a knife before it cuts to black, and that story might be the premise of John Wick 5. While that story undoubtedly needs to continue, it shouldn’t be John Wick 5’s main story. John Wick’s name is literally the title of the movie, so following a different character who isn’t John Wick wouldn’t make any sense, and it’d ultimately be a bait-and-switch move made by the studio.
Why John Wick 5 Will Still Happen Despite Being A Bad Idea
Regardless of the fact that every possibility to make John Wick 5 seems like a dead end, Lionsgate will still absolutely make John Wick 5 for one reason; money. Ever since the first movie, the John Wick franchise has been extremely financially successful and consistent, with each film making four times its budget. Now, the John Wick series is a billion-dollar franchise, which is hard to believe given that the first movie was made with just $20 million. Given how successful the series is, shelving a franchise that’s currently at the peak of its popularity and has a mouth-watering return on investment makes absolutely no sense from a studio’s perspective.
A John Wick: Chapter 4 director’s cut is on the way, and Stahelski explained, “There’s about another, I think, 10 to 15 minutes we put back in. We cut out a big chunk of Berlin, a whole character called The Frau, which is a pretty funny scene with John, and another scene between him and Tracker, a few other little action beats that we put back in.” The Director’s cut could also include the shot of John still alive. That way, John Wick 5 could follow on from Chapter 4’s alternate ending, just like I Am Legend 2. However, just because the studio can do that doesn’t mean it should.