John Wick Director Reveals Who Could Lead a Future Spinoff
Chad Stahelski has three favorite characters in Chapter 4 he believes have potential for sequels of their own.
John Wick: Chapter 4 brings to an end the bloodiest revenge story ever told on the big screen. But John Wick’s world keeps on spinning, with another spinoff movie just announced and coming soon.
In an interview with Collider published Monday, Lionsgate producer Erica Lee said that in addition to ongoing projects like The Continental (a limited series exploring the beginnings of New York’s premier hotel for contract killers) and Ballerina (starring Ana de Armas), a different John Wick-related movie will be announced soon.
“There is another film that we're developing that I think we'll be announcing in the next, say, month or two,” Erica Lee said. “Then, I'm hopeful there's a Ballerina 2, and John Wick 5, and lots of other things. But we're developing a lot of stuff and having a lot of discussions with a lot of writers and brand management and Wick universe is my utmost priority.”
While details about the new spinoff remain close to the chest of John Wick’s producers, John Wick: Chapter 4 director Chad Stahelski recently let slip to Inverse the three characters it could involve. (Spoilers ahead for John Wick: Chapter 4, in case you’ve not seen it yet.)
Shamier Anderson’s “The Tracker” is one of many new characters who debut in John Wick: Chapter 4, whose presence may or may not seed potential spinoffs.
While Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski have closed the book on John Wick for good, Chapter 4 introduced a slew of exciting new characters who are just begging to lead more stories. In an interview with Inverse, Stahelski waxed poetic about three of Chapter 4’s characters in particular whose stories he feels have not ended.
“Of course I love my whole cast, but the interesting characters to me are the three that live,” Stahelski tells Inverse. “I love Akira. I love Caine. I love the Tracker. I wrote them because I’m fascinated where the avenues could go. I could go so many different directions with those three.”
In John Wick: Chapter 4, the film introduces Akira (played by Rina Sawayama), concierge of the Osaka branch of the Continental and daughter of its manager, Koji (played by Hiroyuki Sanada). Early in the movie, Koji is killed by the blind assassin Caine (Donnie Yen), who is forced out of retirement to kill John Wick (Reeves). In a post-credits scene, Akira approaches Caine, seeking revenge for the death of her father.
Another character who makes their franchise debut is “The Tracker,” an anonymous new player played by Shamier Anderson. Little is known about him, including his actual name, though he is in many ways parallel to John Wick (including their love of pups). The movie heavily suggests the Tracker is in debt, which inspires him to “help” John Wick survive if only to increase the bounty on Wick’s head before he can make enough money off the reward.
Stahelski also singles out Laurence Fishburne’s Bowery King, who was introduced in 2017’s John Wick: Chapter 2 and has made appearances in every John Wick installment since. “The Bowery King is one of the most fascinating parts of all the John Wicks. But we’ve had him,” Stahelski says.
In the post-credits scene of John Wick: Chapter 4, Rina Sawayama’s Akira approaches Donnie Yen’s blind assassin Caine, implying she’s intending to exact revenge on Caine for killing her father.
Stahelski tells Inverse that Akira, Caine, and the Tracker’s stories are not done, which leaves them open for further exploration — and ideal candidates to anchor a spinoff.
“We left the Akira and Caine character probably in the weirdest [way],” Staheslki says. “Shamier’s character is not really concluded. Akira’s character is not concluded. Donnie Yen’s character is not concluded. I love that kind of ending in books and movies, but I’d like to see what happens next.”
John Wick: Chapter 4 is now playing in theaters.
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