John Wick 4 Wasted A Golden Opportunity To Set Up The Franchise’s Future Without Keanu Reeves

Though John Wick: Chapter 4 was a nearly perfect sendoff to Keanu Reeves’ titular character, it missed a perfect opportunity to set up his replacement in the franchise. The ending of John Wick: Chapter 4 likely saw John Wick’s death, which put the future of the franchise in jeopardy. Though there are several upcoming John Wick spinoffs in the works, the series is left without its main star, and without a new character to take his place. Even though John Wick: Chapter 5 is on the horizon, it’s not clear how the action franchise will fare without Reeves.

Every John Wick movie has helped spread the legend of the eponymous assassin further. Reeves’ character started out as a big name in the Russian mob specifically, but by John Wick 4, he was a mythical hero the world over. Even as the world of John Wick continued to expand, and the intricacies of the hotels and the High Table were revealed, John’s own legend grew right alongside it. Now, John Wick is suffering from success: John is too legendary to be replaced easily, and the series hasn’t done enough to set up a new character to pass the torch to.

John Wick 4 Should’ve Set Up A Successor For John Wick

Caine, Akira, & Mr. Nobody Could Have Taken John Wick’s Place But Didn’t

Since the John Wick franchise is set to continue despite Keanu Reeves’ character’s death, John Wick 4 should have picked a successor to lead the series forward. The film sort of did that, but it also sort of didn’t. There were three main people who could have taken John’s place – Donnie Yen’s Caine, Rina Sawayama’s Akira, and Shamier Anderson’s Mr. Nobody – but none of them actually stepped up. John Wick 4 seemingly couldn’t decide who should take John’s place, and its indecision meant it didn’t pick a new protagonist at all.

Caine was an old friend of John’s, and there is the upcoming Caine John Wick spinoff, but he also seemingly got out of the assassin’s world. Likewise, Akira had a fairly prominent role in the movie and was the focus of the post-credits scene, but John’s replacement wouldn’t have been almost entirely absent from the third act. Mr. Nobody had a major role in John Wick 4‘s finale, but his future is far less defined than the other characters. All three of them were equally likely to replace John, but John Wick 4 didn’t indicate that any one of them would actually do it.

The John Wick Franchise Had Many Opportunities To Set Up A Replacement

There Are So Many Interesting Characters & Big Stars In John Wick

After 10 years of John Wick and four movies, a lot of famous actors have played interesting characters in the franchise. From Willem Dafoe’s Marcus in the original movie to Halle Berry’s Sofia in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, the franchise has had no shortage of potential replacements for Keanu Reeves. Any one of them, barring those who have already been killed on-screen, could have been interesting enough to carry the series forward without John. It’s easy to imagine Halle Berry being the main focus of a John Wick movie, if the franchise had only given her a film to star in.

Related

How Many People John Wick Kills In All 4 Movies

John Wick’s kill count across all three films has been revealed with a staggering total of on-screen deaths and almost one kill per minute of runtime.

John Wick has had plenty of chances to name a successor to Keanu Reeves’ character, but it didn’t. It’s not just that John Wick 4 failed to find a new protagonist, it’s that the entire franchise did. Instead of taking a character like Common’s Cassian or Berry’s Sofia and developing them alongside John, the franchise immediately returned its focus to Keanu Reeves. While those characters were interesting and engaging in the short-term, the lack of a clear replacement for John has hurt the franchise overall. Now, the task of choosing someone to take over for Keanu Reeves will be a much more difficult undertaking.

Ana de Armas’ Ballerina Character Is The Next Best Chance To Replace John Wick

As The First John Wick Movie After His Death, Ballerina Is Poised To Make Ana de Armas The New Protagonist

Since John Wick 4 didn’t seize the opportunity to name a successor for Keanu Reeves, another movie will have to do it. Ana de Armas’ upcoming film Ballerina seems like the likeliest way for John Wick to introduce a new protagonist. Ballerina will see de Armas play Eve, a member of the Ruska Roma, John’s former gang. It will also take place earlier in the John Wick timeline, meaning Eve will interact with and learn from John. Eve has an extremely direct link to John, and de Armas is already a box office draw, which makes her seem like the successor John Wick 4 never chose.

Another big reason Ana de Armas seems like the most likely long-term replacement for John is simply because Ballerina will be the first movie after John Wick 4, and the first to feature a different protagonist. Even though it takes place earlier chronologically, Ballerina is effectively the franchise’s trial run to see if John Wick can work without Keanu Reeves in the lead role. On top of that, having an entire movie dedicated to depicting her origins and skills as an assassin is a much better way to establish a new main character than Caine, Akira, or Mr. Nobody stories in John Wick 4.

Can Keanu Reeves’ John Wick Actually Be Replaced For John Wick 5?

It’s Hard To Imagine Anyone Being As Legendary As John Wick Himself

Though Ballerina seems like a way for the John Wick franchise to replace Keanu Reeves, there is still the question of whether he can be replaced at all. Reeves has been the face of the franchise, quite literally, for a decade now. He is John Wick, and it’s hard to imagine anyone else commanding the same devoted fanbase as effectively as he did. John Wick‘s only previous attempt to move away from Keanu Reeves, in The Continental: From the World of John Wick, wasn’t nearly as successful as the main series of films. It currently isn’t clear whether John Wick can survive without Reeves.

Even though Keanu Reeves’ departure will put John Wick at a major disadvantage, the future of the franchise isn’t entirely bleak. Ana de Armas is a major celebrity, and Ballerina looks like it could become a hit. Likewise, Donnie Yen’s Caine spinoff seems poised to succeed, given how popular his character was. It’s also possible that John Wick doesn’t need a single protagonist anymore: the world of assassins has grown so much that it’s essentially a framework for any number of stories. Even though John Wick: Chapter 4 didn’t name a successor for Keanu Reeves, the action franchise will likely be alright.

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Following the events of Chapter 3 – Parabellum, John Wick Chapter 4 will see the titular character battle against some of his most dangerous foes yet. With a bounty on his head that continues to skyrocket, John decides to take the fight to the High Table on a global scale and battles across areas like Osaka and Paris to wipe out some of the strongest players in the underworld.
 

Release Date

March 24, 2023

Runtime

169 minutes

Cast

Hiroyuki Sanada
, Clancy Brown
, Scott Adkins
, Keanu Reeves
, Ian McShane
, Bill Skarsgard
, Laurence Fishburne
, Rina Sawayama
, Donnie Yen
, Lance Reddick
, Shamier Anderson

Director

Chad Stahelski

Writers

Shay Hatten
, Michael Finch

Studio(s)

Lionsgate

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