The following post contains SPOILERS for John Wick: Chapter 4 — which may not be that spoiler-y after all if they actually wind up making John Wick: Chapter 5..
Not even death can stop John Wick. At least not when he’s still breaking records at the box office.
If you’ve seen the awesome John Wick: Chapter 4 already, then you know that the film ends with the apparent death of its title character. But there is so much wiggle room in the word “apparent!” What did you really see? You saw John Wick get shot a couple times. Then you saw a couple of people standing over a grave. So what? John Wick’s been shot before. He’s been stabbed, he’s been hit by cars. He always seems to get back up. And John Wick: Chapter 4 just had the biggest opening weekend in the history of the franchise. That’s the sort of thing that tends to remove the ambiguity from a somewhat ambiguous ending.
And sure enough, both John Wick’s creators and its distributor are already talking about the possibility that John Wick: Chapter 5 might happen after all. (Chapter 5 was initially announced as a back-to-back production with Chapter 4, but those plans ultimately changed.) Lionsgate’s Joe Drake told The Hollywood Reporter that there is “an openness” at the studio to make another film, and that “you could certainly interpret that ending in different ways.” In other words, John Wick might not be as dead as he looks.
READ MORE: Go Behind the Scenes of John Wick 4’s Greatest Action Sequence
Drake also said “we’re all going to take a tiny rest here and then scratch at ideas about whether there’s a credible way to get into five.” Those sentiments were echoed by John Wick director Chad Stahelski in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, who said that while they did make this film as if it was the last one, that doesn’t mean in a few months he and Keanu Reeves might not come up with an idea for Chapter 5 that they want to make. “Right now, I don’t have a why,” Stahelski said. “I’m just getting my head out of this one,” before adding…
We tried to leave everything on the table we could, just put it all out there. Everything we’ve ever wanted to do in a film, in a John Wick, we did it. As good as we could be at the point we did that movie, that was our best. Now, hopefully, we improve, and we evolve, and maybe there’s going to be a time when we look at each other going, ‘Got an idea!’
This is why John Wick: Chapter 4 is the perfect ending. If they never make another, Stahelski and Reeves wrapped up the story in satisfying fashion. But they left just enough ambiguity that if the mood strikes, they can pick up the story down the line. If I had to bet on it, I would say it might take a few years, but we will see another John Wick. You can’t keep a good puppy-avenging assassin down.
