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The cinematic journey of John Wick is only two years away from being a decade long, and it doesn’t seem like this roller coaster of an action franchise will be ending any time soon. The long-running franchise has been rightly heralded by fans and critics alike as the best action film series going today, with its impeccable fight choreography and ever-expanded lore and universe being second to none for the genre. That universe seems to keep getting bigger, with the upcoming Ana de Armas-starring spin-off film Ballerina in early development as well as The Continental prequel show set to hit Starz later this year.
Those projects are no doubt exciting for fans, but thanks to a surprise appearance from Keanu Reeves at Collider’s own “Directors on Directing” panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2022, we’ve finally gotten our very first look at John Wick: Chapter 4. The quick teaser provides a quick glimpse into the flashy violence we’ve all come to expect from the John Wick films, but more importantly, it gives us a real good look at both new faces and returning favorites. Regardless of whether these characters are going to help John get revenge on the high table or stand in his way of achieving that goal, here are the people you can expect to see in John Wick: Chapter 4.
Keanu Reeves as John Wick
Unsurprisingly, the face and namesake of the series will be present in the fourth installment, with The Matrix‘s own Keanu Reeves portraying him once more. It’s hard to imagine that John Wick’s path of bloodlust all began because of a dog. At one point in time, Wick was the best and most feared assassin in the world, and he left all of that behind to be with the woman he loved. After losing the said woman he loved to illness, a posthumous gift from her of a puppy gave John a second chance of living a peaceful life. That too was taken from him when an arrogant son of a crime boss kills the puppy, once again sending Wick into the complex criminal underworld.
Wick succeeded in enacting vengeance on those responsible for killing his dog and even found a new canine companion in the process. Unfortunately for him, news of Wick’s return traveled fast, reaching a former colleague named Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio). D’Antonio became a constant thorn in John’s side, forcing John to do his bidding and punishing him when he wouldn’t. John eventually killed D’Antonio, but did so on sacred Continental ground, which is a major transgression in the criminal underworld.
This makes John a target of the High Table, the shadowy big bads of the film, and they send a horde of assassins after the revenge-seeking hitman. John is given an opportunity to escape the table’s wrath and go back to a peaceful life, but only at the cost of executing his closest ally, Winston. John refuses, leading to more bloodshed before Winston himself shoots John off of the roof of the Continental hotel. Finally, we last left John being found by the Bowery King, who takes in the wounded assassin as he prepares for his next quest for vengeance.
Though most of the people in the John Wick universe are trying to kill John, he does have a few allies, and none stand out more than Winston played by Deadwood‘s Ian McShane.
Winston is the manager of the Continental Hotel in New York City, one of many safe havens for those who take part in the hidden world of assassination and mercenary work. The Continental is strictly supposed to be neutral ground where no violence or murder of any kind is to take place, but that doesn’t stop Winston from showing favoritism to his close friend, John. He, along with his loyal concierge Charon, do their best to assist John in his endeavors, ranging from buying him time after the murder of D’Antonio to taking a more active role when the High Table lays siege onto the New York Continental itself. Winston shooting John at the end of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum was a shock, but it was most likely a last-ditch effort to save his friend and give him one more chance to strike back.
Overall Winston’s past is a mystery, but that mystery will have some light shed upon it in The Continental series when it premieres.
In John Wick: Chapter 2, Keanu Reeves was joined by fellow Matrix alumni Laurence Fishburne, who is the leader of the secret society of homeless mercs in the underworld.
Fishburne’s character may not be the wise benevolent mentor that he is in The Matrix, but he still reluctantly helps John when he needs it. He’s nowhere near as helpful as Winston is and almost always seems to want something else in return, but even in giving John a gun with seven bullets, he probably knows that that’ll be enough. Still, even this minor assistance doesn’t escape the High Table’s attention and the Bowery King is maimed by their cronies. Now that he has something personal in the game, the King lets in John with open arms, eager to get some vengeance on the people who ruined that beautiful face of his.
Bosch star Lance Reddick has become something of a fan favorite character in the John Wick franchise and it’s quite easy to see why. Charon is quite possibly the most polite and professional individual in film history, which makes sense given that his job is a concierge to murderers and criminals. He’s always quick to refer John to any service he needs access to and assist him with any requests he may have. Behind that polite exterior is also another genuine friend to John, which is especially apparent since he is fiercely loyal to his employer, Winston. Charon even gets his own chance to get in the spotlight a little bit when he picks up a gun and fights alongside John during the High Table’s siege on the Continental, showing he’s more than capable of holding his own.
In possibly one of the best casting decisions to be made in the franchise to date, legendary martial artist and Ip Man star Donnie Yen will be lending his incomparable fighting talents to John Wick: Chapter 4.
Caine appears to be joining the henchman ranks of the series, following Cassian (Common) from Chapter 2 and Zero (Mark Dacascos) from Chapter 3. This all seems apparent from the clashes we see in the trailer between him and John, as well as another new character, Shimazu. However, Caine’s wearing of sunglasses indoors and at night as well as a walking stick that transforms into a sword seems to indicate that Caine may actually be blind. Maybe this is biased conjecture since Yen has experience playing blind badasses as seen in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, but a blind assassin sounds like something that fits perfectly into the world of John Wick.
Another legendary actor in Asian cinema, Hiroyuki Sanada will be reunited with Keanu Reeves after their last work together in 47 Ronin. Shimazu can be seen fighting in the trailer, but he seems to be fighting for Wick’s side as he’s facing off against Caine. He also gives a narration that seems to be trying to reason with John, to convince him that this quest for vengeance and bloodlust is only going to end in more pain and torment. Perhaps Shimazu is right and John should find a quiet and desolate part of the world and finally give himself some time to grieve, but even if John doesn’t heed his apparent ally’s warnings, hopefully, Shimazu will still remain on the side of our hero.
Maybe it’s because he’s so used to playing villainous characters in It and Eternals, but it seems pretty likely that Bill Skarsgård will once again be playing an antagonist in Chapter 4.
That simple sequence of Marquis and Wick sitting across each other from a table is enough to suggest that these two are enemies, with the aforementioned Caine sitting right by his side. Main villains have always kind of been the one weak point of the series, with many of them being fairly bland and one-dimensional. If Skarsgård really is portraying the main antagonist of the film, hopefully, he’ll be just what the series needs to rectify this minor, but still noticeable issue.
Tracker is the first character thus far to truly be a mystery, apart from that he must be a hunter of some kind given that obvious name. Played by Race‘s Shamier Anderson, Tracker is seen pulling out a fancy pistol, but apart from that, we’re not really sure if he’s a friend or a foe. A tense confrontation with Marquis that seemingly leaves Tracker with a knife in his hand suggests he’s no friend to the potential main villain, but we’ll just have to see what kind of part the character will play in John’s story.
Accomplished Japanese musician Rina Sawayama will be making her feature film acting debut in John Wick: Chapter 4, in another role that’s sparse of major info. Akira only has one scene in the short trailer, seen fighting thugs with a bow and arrow of all things. Who she is and what side she’s on remains to be seen, but her preference for medieval weaponry already gives off a pretty cool first impression.
The final character to have a presence in the trailer is a yet-to-be-named one played by well-known character actor Clancy Brown, whose number of prolific roles range from The Shawshank Redemption to SpongeBob Squarepants.
The only noticeable and potentially significant aspect of Brown’s mystery character is that he, much like John since Chapter 3, is missing a finger. This means that whoever this character is, he fell out of favor with the High Table and had to perform a blood sacrifice by severing his finger to pay his penance and prove his loyalty to the table. We already saw that the act isn’t binding as John still stood against the Table in the end, but we’ll have to wait until John Wick: Chapter 4 hits theaters next year to discover what exactly is in the contents of the letter that the mysterious figure is delivering.
