With the character's future seemingly in question, one John Wick: Chapter 4 producer addressed if Keanu Reeves' big screen assassin is dead and gone.
While the John Wick franchise is going to live on in spin-offs like the Continental streaming series and Ana De Armas' Ballerina, it is currently unknown if director Chad Stahelski and star Keanu Reeves will be continuing on with the series.
Despite a fifth film having been greenlit (at the same time the fourth movie was), Stahelski has been adamant that they plan on "giv[ing] John Wick a rest" at least for now.
Originally the fourth and fifth films were set to film back-to-back; however, those plans were ultimately set aside because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, fans are wondering, if and when they will hear from Reeves' stylish killer ever again.
Is John Wick Dead After Chapter 4?
Warning - The rest of this article contains spoilers for John Wick Chapter 4
John Wick: Chapter 4 producer Erica Lee addressed the shocking ending of the franchise's fourth installment, being one of the first to answer the question did Keanu Reeves' John Wick die in the closing moments of the film?
While no dead body was shown, it was assumed that Reeves' titular assassin had perished, bleeding out on the steps of Sacré-Cœur in Paris. This was further punched home when Chapter 4 closed on what looked to be a gravestone for Mr. Wick.
Lee told Screen Rant that "[she] hope[s]" is not dead. She cryptically remarked that "Keanu [has been saying] that this is the death of John Wick," but "what does that [actually] mean:"
"I hope not. I have heard Keanu say that this is the death of John Wick the character, but also, what does that mean? Is that the alias of John Wick? Is that the assassin John Wick? I think the answer is we don't know yet."
Lee thinks there is "more story to tell" and she is "hopeful for a fifth [movie]:"
"I think the answer is we don't know yet. I think we have more story to tell, and are hopeful for a fifth. In what capacity that is or what the story is, I don't know yet. But I'm hopeful."
A John Wick 4 Breakdown
Coming off the high of John Wick: Chapter 4 is going to leave many wondering, is this really the end of Keanu Reeves' beloved action movie hero?
The whole final battle, ending with him bleeding out overlooking a Paris drenched in sunrise, did feel like a poetic sendoff for Mr. Wick if this is truly the end.
Sacrificing himself to take that final shot from Donnie Yen's Caine, while ending the terrorizing reign of Bill Skarsgård's Marchese de Gramont, ensuring both John and Caine's freedom, does have franchise send-off written all over it.
And it is not as though John's ambiguous collapse on the staircase where this story ended, one cannot forget that the last scene of the film actually sees the Bowery King (played by Laurence Fishburne) and Winston (played by Ian McShane) paying tribute to John and his wife's graves.
So as it stands now, it seems as though Keanu Reeves' time as John Wick has come to an end.
Of course, there is always the chance of him popping up in a flashback in something like the upcoming Ballerina spin-off film (a cameo he is already seemingly on the books for), or perhaps taking on a John Wick prequel.
But - and it might sound ridiculous - just because John Wick is dead, does not mean John Wick 5 will not happen. Chapter 4 does end with a post-credit tease of where the story might go with Aimée Kwan's Mia seen running at Caine as she seeks revenge for the death of her father.
Right now though, it all seems up in the air, as John Wick: Chapter 4 continues its theatrical run in theaters now.
