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John Wick's Entire Backstory Explained
BY SEZIN KOEHLER/MARCH 23, 2020 3:22 PM EDT
John Wick has all the makings of a comic book movie franchise without actually being based on one at all. Written by Derek Kolstad from his own original idea, this high-concept series starring Keanu Reeves in the title role features some of the most remarkable fight scenes ever put to screen — but the world-building in John Wick, John Wick: Chapter 2, and John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum is just as exceptional.
Unlike many other action films with straightforward plots, the backstory of assassin John Wick reveals his history in small bites that force the viewer to engage with far more than just the epic battles onscreen. Director Chad Stahelski was Reeves' stunt double on the Matrix movies, and his comfort with the actor is evident in the full-body filming style that allows us to see John's conflicts with others play out in spectacular detail. The spectacular light design and banging score all contribute to John's epic rampages. The fact that Stahelski also relies on nuanced performances from his entire cast in every John Wick installment certainly helps audiences figure out exactly who John Wick is and why he makes the choices he does. So why is Baba Yaga so bad at staying retired? Here's what we know so far: John Wick's entire backstory explained.
"The man, the myth, the legend": John Wick's early childhood with the Ruska Roma
In a poetic turn of events, it isn't until the third installment of the John Wick franchise that we learn anything about Wick's early life and upbringing, and even that is in many ways coded in ciphers and symbolism from where audiences can infer his story. Born Jardani Jovanovich in Belarus, he was orphaned as a child and adopted by the Ruska Roma — with is an ethnic group as well as a criminal syndicate — who then began training him as an assassin at the Director's (Anjelica Huston) performing arts institute in New York City. It isn't clear when he changed his name to John Wick, but Jardani translates to John from Romany, and "Wick" is the phonetic pronunciation of the final four letters of his birth name.
We also don't know when exactly John received all of his tattoos, but as we get a short tour of the Director's institute we see that the older students are already heavily tattooed with Catholic imagery similar to John's, possibly indicating they've gone through a similar initiation into the assassin underworld. We also see the students in the process of various kinds of training, from dancing to wrestling, and so much more — John is an expert marksman and driver, a skilled martial artists across a number of different styles, experienced in hand-to-hand combat, and is preternaturally strong, also suggesting there might be some kind of physical enhancement that's taken place along the way too.
"Everyone's got a price": John Wick's assassin years
While his back tattoo reading "Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat" ("fortune favors the bold") might suggest John Wick was once in the Marine Corps, we haven't seen any confirmation that this is true. But what we do concretely know is that Wick was an incredibly proficient and prolific assassin who quickly earned the nickname "The Boogeyman" for his killing talents. After leaving the Ruska Roma, John joined the Tarasov Mob as one of its leader Viggo Tarasov's (Michael Nyqvist) main enforcers. During this time John developed different relationships with people at various levels of the High Table, the ruling body of this mob underworld, with delegates from each controlling mob family having a representative there. Among Wick's friendly contacts and colleagues fostered here include Marcus (Willem Dafoe), the concierge of the Continental Hotel, Charon (Lance Reddick), and its manager Winston (Ian McShane).
But he also made a collection of frenemies along the way, as is to be expected in the assassin game, including Ms. Perkins (Adrianne Palicki), Sofia Al-Azwar (Halle Berry), Cassian (Common), Ares (Ruby Rose), Santino D'Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio) and his sister Gianna (Claudia Gerini), and many more. It is during this time that John helps Sofia get her daughter to safety from the mob and receives a blood oath marker from her. These markers are made of elaborate gold designs and open like a locket. Inside they have room for two thumbprints, the first establishing the oath and the second when the oath has been fulfilled. These markers are non-negotiable.
"I'll be seeing you": John Wick gets out of assassin game
At the heart of this action franchise is an operatic love story that ends in tragedy. John falls in love with Helen (Bridget Moynahan) and knows he has no choice but to get out of the assassin game. When he approaches Viggo Tarasov about retiring, Viggo first laughs at him. But once Viggo realizes John is serious, he seizes the moment to take full advantage of John's new vulnerability. Viggo tasks John with killing all of his rival leaders in one night, an event that needs to happen fast to avoid retaliation. The Tarasov family doesn't have a seat at the High Table, so it's possible this was an attempt to show force and win one.
While John does as he was tasked, coldly dispatching each target, he unfortunately isn't able to do this one alone; he gives his blood oath marker to the son of the head of the Rome Syndicate, Santino D'Antonio, for tactical assistance. This will prove to be one of the biggest mistakes of John Wick's life.
Still, John gets to spend five years with his beloved Helen before she gets cancer and dies, shattering him in a way that he'd never been broken before. She was his anchor in the real world outside of the assassin game. What we would he do with her gone? As a last gift, Helen leaves John a puppy named Daisy, someone new for him to take care of and to help him remember his humanity and all the love he has in his heart.
"It wasn't just a puppy": John Wick is forced back into the game
John isn't out of the game long... but apparently still long enough for younger mobsters to forget who he is and what he's capable of, including the famous anecdote about killing three men with only a pencil. As John is filling up at a gas station near his home, a brash man asks to buy it from him, which John refuses. This happens to be Viggo Tarasov's son Iosef (Alfie Allen), who puts together a team to storm John's house, assault him, and steal the coveted car. In the moment heard around the world, Iosef's henchman kicks John's puppy Daisy, killing her instantly.
Badly injured and emotionally devastated once more, John's grief turns to pure unbridled rage as he plots his revenge against Iosef. Viggo tries to advocate peace for his son, but John will hear none of it. He digs up the trove of markers, gold coins, and weapons cemented underneath his garage and goes after Iosef and his goons one by one.
In the meantime, Viggo sends his own assassins after John — his old friend Marcus as well as a very angry Ms. Perkins who seems to have her own grudge against John that is never explained. After an enormous death toll that takes out Viggo, Iosef, Marcus, Ms. Perkins, and dozens more, John adopts a pit bull who is set to be euthanized the next day and goes home.
"Not vengeance, justice": John Wick and The Rome Syndicate
Knowing quite well that John Wick was battered after his war with the Tarasovs, an opportunistic Santino D'Antonio pulls John back into the underworld even further by cashing in his own marker. Santino's request? Kill his sister Gianna, who's been selected to represent their family at the High Table so he can assume her throne. John can't refuse so he takes his conundrum to his old friend Winston at The Continental Hotel. Winston feels for Johnathan, as he calls him, but reminds him that a blood oath is not optional. A sad and reluctant John Wick flies to Rome where he uses gold coins to get a stylish, but tactical, wardrobe as well as weapons.
When he arrives at Gianna's ascendence party, a gorgeous affair set in Roman ruins, she knows what her brother has done. To maintain what little agency she has left, Gianna slits her own wrists and John only shoots her after she's dead. But because Santino can't leave well enough alone, he lies and puts a hit of $7 million out on John Wick for assassinating his sister that leads to another huge showdown between John, Santino's minions, and his assassin colleagues Cassian and Ares, all of whom John defeats.
Back in New York, John is forced to visit the Bowery King (Lawrence Fishburne), a low-level player but one with access to resources. The Bowery King gives John seven bullets, one for each million of the bounty, and John returns to the Continental for his showdown with Santino, who has taken up residence there. The rules don't permit assassinations on the property, but John kills Santino anyway.
"I'll kill them all": John Wick, excommunicado
Murdering someone on Continental grounds results in immediate excommunication from the entire underworld network that was once available to John Wick. Because Winston knew Santino set John up, Winston gives him an hour to escape before putting in the excommunicado order, a decision that would bite him back soon enough. The bounty on John's head has also doubled by John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum.
Badly injured and running out of time, John goes to the New York Public Library where he has stashed away a photograph of his wife Helen, as well as a rosary and more markers inside a hollowed-out book of Russian folktales. While there, a giant assassin (Boban Marjanovic) tries to kill him before the hourlong grace period is up, but fails when John murders him with a library book.
John manages to make it to a friendly face, the Doctor (Randall Duk Kim) who begins stitching up his wounds, but he isn't able to finish before more bounty hunters attack him in a museum of ancient weapons. John defeats everyone and stumbles his way back to where he started in New York as a child, the Director's performing arts institute. The Director decides to help him, securing him passage to Casablanca where he will try to connect with the only person above the High Table who can save his life, the Elder (Saïd Taghmaoui). In the process, the Director brands over John's back tattoo. He has cashed his ticket. The institute, and Ruska Roma, are no longer home or allies.
"If you want peace, prepare for war": John Wick's journey to The Elder
As John Wick travels by boat to Morocco, a new emissary of the High Table enters the mix. The Adjudicator (Asia Kate Dillon) arrives in Manhattan to mete out the consequences of John's actions since Santino called in John's marker. Every person who helped John receives severe punishments that involve mutilation, while Winston goes into hiding to avoid the Adjudicator's sentencing.
In Casablanca, John meets with Sofia, the manager of Morocco's Continental Hotel, who doesn't look happy to see him or his marker. But John helped Sofia get her daughter into hiding years before, and she'd made a blood oath to him. Sofia and her two German shepherds finally agree to help, which involves going to Sofia's old boss Berrada (Jerome Flynn) who tells them how to find the Elder, then demands Sofia give him one of her beloved dogs for the information. She refuses, and Berrada shoots the dog. A new line is drawn that John Wick totally gets — and John and Sofia both fight dozens of Berrada's henchmen before defeating them all.
Sofia drives John out to the desert where he's supposed to walk until he can't walk anymore and wait for the Elder to find him. After he does, John agrees to be back in service to the High Table for the rest of his days, no exceptions. "I have served. I will be of service," John says before cutting off his ring finger — with his wedding ring on it — and offering it as tribute to the Elder. John is officially back now.
"Guns, lots of guns": John Wick's new path toward reconsecration
John's first task for the High Table is to return to Manhattan and kill Winston, who the members of the Table feel has gotten too high on his own power. Sending John himself to kill Winston is painful irony. In the meantime, the $14 million bounty is still on John's head and he has to battle more minions in order to get to Winston, including the ninja trainer Zero (Marc Dacascos) and his acolytes. But John can't bring himself to kill Winston and defies the High Table's order once again. The Adjudicator de-consecrates the Continental, meaning it's open season on John and Winston. Charon helps kill many of The High Table soldiers, but there are too many of them.
After a parley between Winston and the Adjudicator, Winston decides to sell out John Wick and agrees to kill him himself in order to get the hotel reconsecrated and maintain his position as manager. Winston shoots John several times point blank and John falls from the roof to what should have been his death.
But the Bowery King has his own power... and he is pissed. His minion the Tick Tock Man (Jason Mantzoukas) rescues John and brings him down to the Bowery where John and the Bowery King team up for a new bout of revenge killings. John tells the Elder he wants to live so he can remember his love for Helen. But what is this extreme vengeance doing to honor that love? What would Helen say about the hundreds of people he 's killed with his own hands?
"Yeah, I guess I'm back": Why is everyone so angry with John Wick?
Even someone who only dabbles in the John Wick world should notice that people are inordinately angry whenever they come in contact with John. With the exception of a few people, like Charon, the Doctor, and Zero, everyone seems to have massive vendettas and anger against John. Ms. Perkins, Sofia, Cassian, Ares, Gianna D'Antonio, and even eventual allies like the Bowery King are absolutely livid with John when they see him again. This isn't an average kind of anger that comes with a small grudge. This is fury, and their resulting fight scenes act out that rage in fine detail, with the exception of Gianna, who looks at him with a combination of sadness and love along with her anger. Why is this?
Are they so angry because John got out, even if briefly? Because he's the best assassin and they're jealous? Did he have affairs with some of these folks before meeting his wife and they harbor grudges about the love he had for Helen? Because underneath it all he's actually a good and kind person if people would leave him alone? So far we have more questions than answers in this regard, but these ongoing reactions are a notable part of John Wick's lived experience.
"They call him Baba Yaga": Where does John Wick's nickname come from?
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Throughout the John Wick franchise people regularly refer to John Wick as "Baba Yaga." It's translated onscreen as "The Boogeyman," but that isn't exactly accurate. In Central and Eastern Europe, as well as Russian folktales, Baba Yaga is a witch who lives in the woods in a cottage resting on chicken leg stilts. She is either wicked or benevolent, depending on who has called on her for help and their success in completing whatever task(s) she has asked of them first. On the rare occasion Baba Yaga needs to leave her enchanted space, she rides a mortar and pestle to wherever she must go, a symbol that she is either ready to grind up herbs for magic or alternatively beat someone to a pulp. Baba Yaga presents as an ugly, deformed, elderly woman.
It's unclear why everyone in the John-Wickiverse calls him "Baba Yaga" since John's modus operandi and appearance couldn't be more different than Baba Yaga's. He is a young, handsome man, and gets paid to go out and hunt people down on the regular. John's targets don't usually approach him, except in the case of Iosef Tarasov, who breached John and Helen's sanctuary and paid for it. But since it took us until the third film, Parabellum, to find out about John's childhood, we can only hope that by John Wick 4 the story behind this odd nickname is explained further.
"I'd like to see the manager": John Wick comic books contradict the movies
John Wick fans want to know more about this enigmatic character and the events that made him who he is today. But unfortunately, the John Wick comic book series fully contradicts some important events in the movies. While one aspect of his friendship with Charon is explained in a way that fits film canon — John saved Charon's life — nothing else in the comics meshes with the movies, especially the version of John's childhood we learn about in Parabellum. In the comic, writer Greg Pak sets up John's childhood in Mexico as a homeless street urchin who steals to survive. But we learned in Parabellum that John was an orphan from Belarus who was trained as an assassin from a young age in New York City. Mexico plays no part in John's life onscreen, at least not yet.
The comics also suggest he's a cat person, which doesn't gel since Helen would have gotten John a kitten if that's what he preferred. It's almost like the comic book creators didn't really watch the John Wick films all that closely. It makes more sense when you learn that the comics weren't created or produced by anyone who wrote or directed the movies. Hardcore John Wick fans can safely disregard the comic book events as separate canon and instead wait for John Wick Chapter Four to reveal more.
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The Untold Truth Of John Wick
BY NINA STARNER/APRIL 3, 2019 11:57 AM EDT
Thanks to its mind-bending action sequences, careful world-building, and beloved star, the John Wick franchise is incredibly popular, performing admirably at the box office and faring well with both critics and fans. With Keanu Reeves starring as the deadly title character, these revenge thrillers have delighted viewers since the franchise started, and demand for further installments and spinoffs remains strong. Packed with unbelievable fight scenes and impeccable stunts, the Wick films have changed the face of action cinema, and their legacy will almost certainly impact action films and fight scenes in the years to come.
Though hardcore fans may have seen the John Wick movies countless times and combed through them for references, fun facts, and more, the mysterious world of everyone's favorite dog-loving assassin still holds plenty of secrets. From "gung-fu" to surprise producers and more details on those mysterious coins, here's the untold truth of the John Wick series.
It's not an adaptation, but an original script
Thanks to the incredibly detailed world of the John Wick films, from Wick's intense backstory to the hotel that houses some of the world's most deadly assassins, many fans might have assumed that the first film was based on some kind of adapted source material, but John Wick was actually a completely original script. In 2012, writer Derek Kolstad developed the idea and started work on the spec script, originally entitled Scorn, about a man who trafficked in evil and finally gets some sort of redemption only to lose it. After a few studios showed interest, he sold it to Thunder Road Pictures because they promised to make the movie as soon as possible. Though Wick was originally written as a much older retired hitman, Kolstad revised the script once Thunder Road purchased the rights, making Wick younger and applying any changes the studio wanted (aided by Reeves, who helped revise the script as well).
The film might not have been based on a comic book or video game, but the character of John Wick has now inspired works in both mediums — Dynamite Entertainment has since released a comic book series about Wick's origin story, and gamers can get into Wick's mindset by playing John Wick Chronicles. Just before the first film was released, Wick also appeared as a playable character in Payday 2, solidifying him as an action star even before his film debut.
It's deeply connected to The Matrix series
Keanu Reeves has appeared in plenty of famous films, but perhaps his most widely known role is that of Neo in the Matrix film series, a trilogy and universe that set new standards for action films as well as giving pop culture one of its best theories about alternate realities. As Neo, the mystical "One" who can control the synthetic world of the Matrix and fight the machines holding humans hostage within the Matrix and the real world, Reeves established himself as a true action star, making him the ideal choice to play one of the world's most lethal hitmen in John Wick.
Beyond sharing a lead actor, The Matrix and John Wick film series have quite a lot in common, including the crew who worked on both films as well as a few other cast members. The two directors of the first film, David Leitch and Chad Stahelski, were stuntmen on The Matrix, and Stahelski was actually Reeves' stuntman; the second chapter in the series, John Wick: Chapter 2, reunited Reeves with Laurence Fishburne, who appeared as Neo's mentor Morpheus in The Matrix. Diehard Matrix fans may have caught another cameo as well — Randall Duk Kim, who played the Keymaker in The Matrix Reloaded, showed up as a doctor in the first John Wick film.
Keanu Reeves chose the original directors himself
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Keanu Reeves had plenty of input on the film, helping to shape his character and working closely with writer David Kolstad, who said Reeves was closely attuned to even the smallest details that could help flesh out his otherwise mysterious character. Keeping in mind Reeves' famously generous nature, it's no surprise that he turned to former crew members from The Matrix to help him create a great action film — specifically, David Leitch and Chad Stahelski.
Though Reeves initially reached out to the two veteran fight choreographers and stuntmen to see if they would simply design the film's action, he hoped they would direct, and luckily for Reeves, they were more than happy to take on the challenge. Having worked with Reeves plenty of times before, Leitch and Stahelski were familiar with both his prowess and his process, making stunts and fights on John Wick that much more seamless. Both Leitch and Stahelski have credited their work on The Matrix as an inspiration for John Wick as well as a guiding light for their overall careers; Stahelski has said that not just John Wick, but most films he's worked on as a stuntman wouldn't exist without the template of The Matrix, and both directors have said that watching Lana and Lilly Wachowski, the directors of The Matrix trilogy, was essentially a master class in directing action that still had an emotional core.
Reeves does basically all of his own stunts
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Throughout his career, Reeves has gone from goofy comedies like Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure to plenty of different action films, and he's now an experienced stuntman in his own right, learning countless forms of fighting and performing many of his own stunts throughout his storied career. John Wick is no exception.
To prepare for Wick, Reeves spent months training with veterans from SWAT teams as well as former Navy SEALs, thanks to Leitch and Stahelski's insistence that the star not use any of his previous martial arts knowledge in the film and instead learn entirely new methods of fighting. Reeves went on to do a large amount of the stunts seen in John Wick (a tradition in his films) and most of them with no double in John Wick 2, where the stunts and fights far surpassed the first film, upping the ante for Reeves as well as for loyal viewers. Early footage from John Wick 3 shows even more death-defying acts from Reeves, proving that even as he ages, he's still more than capable of stunning audiences with his stunt work as well as showing his complete commitment to what has now become one of his signature roles.
A surprising producer
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Celebrities produce blockbuster films more often than you might think. Some have even won Academy Awards for their production work — Brad Pitt earned an Oscar when 12 Years a Slave, which he helped produce, won Best Picture, and both Ben Affleck and George Clooney picked up statues for Argo as producers, with Affleck also serving as director for the Best Picture winner.
Actors sidelining as producers isn't uncommon, in other words, but one of the producers on the first John Wick film might still come as a surprise to most fans. According to the DVD commentary, Eva Longoria, best known for her role on Desperate Housewives as well as numerous film and television appearances and modeling contracts, is a credited producer; Leitch and Stahelski both noted that they've never met her, but they're grateful to her for "writing a check." Whether you knew it or not, we have Longoria to thank for funding one of the century's best action movies.
Influences include spaghetti westerns, Kurosawa, and Clint Eastwood
Leitch and Stahelski obviously drew from their experience working on other action films, including The Matrix, but John Wick also drew its unique tone from everything from classic action movies to horror novels. The two directors cited several direct influences on the film, which ranged from Clint Eastwood's classic Western The Good, The Bad and the Ugly to crime films like Point Blank and foreign releases like China's The Killer and France's Le Cercle Rouge.
Interestingly, though the film certainly has a noir feel and could even be classified as neo-noir, the directors have also said that noir wasn't as strong of an influence, invoking spaghetti westerns and directors like Kurosawa instead (his name comes up quite frequently when the two discuss the first film in the series). Beyond Kurosawa, Leitch and Stahelski have also brought up names like Steve McQueen, Sergio Leone, and Burt Reynolds, looking to classic action stars and directors from the 1970s and 1980s for inspiration. As far as world-building goes, writer Derek Kolstad mentioned horror writer Stephen King as a huge influence, especially to show how far a broken man will go (a common theme in King's works), as well as Scottish novelist Alistair MacLean.
One of the original directors went on to other projects
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Even though Stahelski and Leitch technically co-directed the first John Wick film, the Director's Guild of America ruled that only Stahelski could be credited as the director, while Leitch was listed among the film's producers. In any case, though the two clearly maintained a good professional relationship, they parted ways for the second film, and Stahelski went on to direct John Wick: Chapter 2 as well as John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum by himself.
Meanwhile, Leitch embarked on an incredibly lucrative career of his own — the same year Stahelski helmed John Wick 2, Leitch directed Atomic Blonde, an action thriller starring Charlize Theron that also immediately became famous for its incredible action set pieces, especially its signature one-take fight in a stairwell. After that, Leitch took the reins on Deadpool 2, the second outing for Ryan Reynolds' foul-mouthed mercenary, and is attached to upcoming action films including a Fast & Furious spinoff as well as an adaptation of popular video game The Division, proving his departure from John Wick didn't hurt this stuntman-turned-director one bit. He also stays in touch with Stahelski to help with ideas in an advisory role.
Director Chad Stahelski wants the series to go on forever
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It's fortunate for the John Wick series that they've been able to retain most of the creative team throughout all of the movies, especially director Chad Stahelski and writer Derek Kolstad, both of whom have been working on Wick since the very beginning. Between the comic books and video games, as well as upcoming spinoffs set within the world, it's clear that there's plenty of material to mine from the John Wick universe, and Stahelski, along with plenty of audience members, hopes that the series goes on for quite some time.
"I enjoy making these movies because there's no limit. We create our own mythology, and we have a studio that both stays out of our way and supports us on the wacky decisions," said Stahelski, also noting that he and Reeves, who is heavily responsible for the mythology of his character, have "ideas for days" and that he would happily spend the rest of his career existing within John Wick's dangerous, violent world. Considering the success Stahelski has enjoyed with the Wick franchise thus far, it's certainly understandable that he'd be content to keep telling this seemingly endless story.
The world-building is incredibly precise
One of the many things that fans love about the John Wick series is the careful and detailed world in which the main character lives and kills, which is full of small details without being obvious or clichéd. Throughout most of the first film, audiences are actually unaware of Wick's past until other criminals realize that one of the most dangerous hitmen alive is coming out of "retirement," and it isn't until he returns to the Continental, the heart of this underground world, to begin seeking his revenge, that the world-building truly begins in earnest.
In a lengthy interview with Honest Trailers & Screen Junkies, Leitch and Stahelski divulged plenty of details about the world of the film, including little ones that fans may not have caught during a casual viewing. One such detail is that no "innocents" die in the John Wick series, which includes police officers — and not only are police officers spared by the assassins, they have their own underground which works in tandem with the criminal underground, and each side essentially leaves the other alone to do their job. All in all, it's pretty sophisticated for a worldwide crime syndicate responsible for brutal murders.
There's a lot of rules regarding the coins
Yet another perfect example of world-building in the John Wick series is the use of its coins, which hitmen like Wick can use as currency for everything from a hotel room to a well-stirred cocktail or a closet full of machine guns. Since these prices seem fairly inconsistent, to say the least, fans have worked tirelessly to try and figure out exactly how the gold coin-based economy actually works within John Wick's criminal underground, and some experts have even weighed in to say that this is fairly realistic when it comes to organized crime. Others have speculated that by pricing everything at the same point, the Continental prevents assassins from overstaying their welcome at the hotel, forcing them to use it as a simple stop during their missions.
As far as the directors are concerned, their view is that while the pricing is all over the place, it also doesn't matter, because that's not really what the coins are about — Leitch and Stahelski have said that they're essentially "business cards" that allow point of entry as well as indicating that the coin-holder is "in the know." Wondering about the currency value is, ultimately, missing the point. It's about the custom, not about getting change back for your Negroni or closet full of AK-47s.
The films are a genre some call gun-fu
Overall, the John Wick films are difficult to categorize — they're an odd hybrid of noir, spaghetti westerns, crime thrillers, action movies, and several other genres that seem like they might not blend seamlessly. However, the franchise can actually be categorized within a very specific genre called "gun-fu," which can be traced back to the films of John Woo, among others.
Taking the balletic approach of classic kung-fu movies, including more modern iterations featuring actors like Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee, Woo introduced guns into the mix with films like Hard Boiled, which, in particular, is famous for a three-minute fight scene regarded as one of the best ever shot. The Wachowskis were the next directors to employ "gun-fu," making gunfights an elegantly shot affair that elevated a typical action sequence; crucially, The Matrix used famed choreographer Yuen Woo-ping, who went on to help choreograph other homages to the kung-fu genre, including Kill Bill. John Wick is among a new group of films joining the genre, using the weapons as props in highly stylized sequences and creating clearly fake but optically gorgeous set pieces to please audiences.
The universe will continue in an upcoming TV series
The hotel in the films, the Continental, is shrouded in mystery, despite its few yet clear rules (you can't kill on the grounds, you must use their signature gold coins as currency), and naturally, fans want to know as much about this criminal-ridden way station as possible. Luckily, the minds behind John Wick, including star Keanu Reeves, are working on a new part of the Wick world that might explain some long-standing mysteries about the hotel, its guests, and its history.
In early 2018, it was announced that Starz would be developing a television series based on the John Wick universe called The Continental which would, naturally, focus on the hotel. Keanu Reeves is listed as an executive producer on the project, and executives from the network told fans they shouldn't rule out seeing him appear on the show as well. Writer Derek Kolstad will be working on the show alongside Leitch and Stahelski, lending added credibility to this already exciting project.
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All John Wick 3 Rumors And Spoilers Leaked So Far
BY PHIL ARCHBOLD/UPDATED: APRIL 20, 2020 6:47 PM EDT
It wasn't that long ago that Keanu Reeves made his first appearance as headshot-happy, dog-loving hitman John Wick in the critically acclaimed film of the same name, but the world that the character inhabits has expanded considerably since 2014, and will be expanding a whole lot more in the near future. There's already a line of comic books slowly revealing more about Wick's shadowy past, and the assassin-friendly hotel at the center of the John Wick universe will be the setting of a new TV spinoff, currently in the pipeline at Starz. Both are exciting projects, but it's Reeves' third outing as the steely anti-hero that everyone's really waiting for.
When 2017's John Wick: Chapter 2 outperformed its predecessor both critically and commercially, Chapter 3 seemed pretty much inevitable, and before long the people involved in the franchise had confirmed that it was indeed happening. There have been plenty of reveals about the upcoming sequel since then, and we've got them all right here. From returning characters and exotic filming locations to production schedules and release dates, this is everything we know about John Wick: Chapter 3.
The gang's getting back together
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The biggest obstacle in getting John Wick: Chapter 3 off the ground was always going to be convincing Keanu Reeves to reprise the titular role again. As he found out with The Matrix trilogy, third time isn't always a charm. Luckily for John Wick fans, Reeves adores the franchise and has been expressing his interest in a third film since before the second one had even been released. In February 2018, the actor told Entertainment Weekly that he was "absolutely" on board for John Wick: Chapter 3.
"I love the character and the world," Reeves said. "Whether or not I get the chance to do another chapter is really up to the audience. If they enjoy what we did [in Chapter 2] — and hopefully they do, fingers-crossed, I really dig it — but if they do enjoy it, then I'll have the chance to continue the story of the character and the world." Audiences did enjoy it (85 percent of them, according to Rotten Tomatoes), and Reeves got his wish.
The creative team behind the first two movies is also returning, various reports have confirmed. Derek Kolstad (writer of the first two John Wick movies) came aboard in summer 2017 according to The Hollywood Reporter, and Chad Stahelski (who co-directed John Wick and helmed Chapter 2 solo) was revealed as director by ThatHashtagShow sources in January 2018. OmegaUnderground confirmed that production designer Kevin Kavanaugh (The Dark Knight Rises, John Wick: Chapter 2) has also agreed to come back.
There's a ton of returning characters
Stahelski has been talking about where he'd like to go with John Wick: Chapter 3 since as far back as 2016, when he revealed that he'd already been approached by Lionsgate about continuing the character's story. "The studio has asked us to put our heads together and see if we can come up with something," he told Collider at New York Comic Con. When pressed for details, the director revealed that two characters who have been on the periphery of proceedings so far were going to play bigger roles in John Wick: Chapter 3.
"Winston [Ian McShane] is a big part of the next one, so is Lance Reddick," Stahelski revealed. "We've got some ideas." McShane's character Winston is the owner of The Continental, a hotel that acts as a neutral territory for working assassins. Lance Reddick plays Charon, the concierge at The Continental. Wick was excommunicated from the hotel for conducting business on its grounds in Chapter 2, but judging from these early comments from Stahelski, it doesn't look like he's done with the secretive underworld establishment just yet.
On top of Winston and Charon, hitman Cassian (Common), the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) and mute assassin Ares (Ruby Rose) are all preparing to reprise their roles, according to ThatHashtagShow. The last time we saw Rose's character, she was bleeding out in a hall of mirrors after making the mistake of fighting John Wick, though it seems she managed to get out alive.
He'll be on the road again
John Wick's work took him to Rome in Chapter 2, and according to Chad Stahelski, the infamous hitman will be on the move once again during his third outing. "We talked about the U.K., Paris," the director told DigitalSpy. "We'd love to do the Middle East and Asia, those are our hot spots. Something like that will gestate, I'm sure." Wick doing his thing in Asia would be a sight to see, but as far as Keanu Reeves is concerned, the character should be heading to Israel.
"I think we need to go to Jerusalem," the actor told IGN. "I think we need to keep going, open up [the world]. I see some scene with John in the desert, just doing some wacky thing." Judging from producer Basil Iwanyk's interview with Collider, Jerusalem would definitely fit the bill. "We're trying to figure out what is older and more mythic than Rome," he said after emphatically ruling out sending Wick to China.
It appears as though Reeves got his wish — there will be a scene with Wick in the desert, though it won't be in Israel. Toward the end of 2018, the leading man and his co-star Halle Berry were spotted filming in Morocco, the North African gateway to the Sahara Desert. An exclusive shot of the two side-by-side on the sand dunes was released by Entertainment Weekly in December. Berry in particular seems to have fallen in love with the place, as Vogue Arabia proudly reports.
Kolstad wants to send Wick to Tokyo
The opinions of Reeves and Stahelski are all well and good, but it ultimately falls to Derek Kolstad to shape Wick's journey. The screenwriter has also discussed taking the character to new shores, but his city of choice isn't Paris or Jerusalem, it's Tokyo. "One of the things I would love John to do in the third one is to be excommunicated, broke, begging in Tokyo or some corner of the Earth that's sexy and cool," Kolstad said on The Q&A with Jeff Goldsmith podcast (via NerdReactor).
The scribe went on to reveal that he envisioned Wick having a defining character moment in the Japanese megacity. "He stumbles upon something that has nothing to do with his journey and he does the right thing," Kolstad explained. "I don't know what that is yet, but I love the idea that John Wick has done everything for him — but if you notice in both movies, he's actually doing stuff for other people."
Recent reports suggest that Kolstad went with his gut feeling and set at least some of the film in Japan, as Hiroyuki Sanada has apparently joined the cast as the central antagonist — he will play the boss of a Japanese crime syndicate, according to ThatHashtagShow. Sanada and Reeves became friends co-starring in samurai flop 47 Ronin, for which the Canadian learned perfect Japanese. "The first time Keanu spoke in Japanese it was a very important scene between us and — more than the dialogue's meaning — I was moved," Sanada told Collider.
The High Table will be explained
The first two John Wick movies were rightfully lauded for their no-nonsense, super stylish action sequences, but what really sets the franchise apart from other shoot-em-ups is the fascinating mythology woven into them. While 2014's John Wick was a straight-up revenge flick, the 2017 sequel fleshed out the mysterious world of professional killers considerably, revealing the existence of an all-powerful council of assassins and crime lords known as "The High Table."
"The High Table was something that came about from discussions between Chad [Stahelski] and I about alluding to the John Wick onion," screenwriter Derek Kolstad told Inverse. "We had a firm foundation beneath us in the first movie, and in the sequel we needed to build over that world and peel back the layers." Kolstad revealed that early drafts of John Wick: Chapter 2 went "in-depth" on the inner workings of the High Table, but in the end he decided that it was "too much for one story."
Luckily, Kolstad's interview seemed to indicate that John Wick: Chapter 3 will go into much more detail about this central assassins authority, and the film's director later confirmed this. "We are going to put in something about the High Table, how that all works," Stahelski told The Independent. Reeves also teased the High Table's involvement in Chapter 3 during an interview with Empire, hinting at a possible conflict with The Continental. "Maybe John is the activator of this confrontation, and perhaps there's a war," he said. "Wouldn't that be awesome?"
It will reveal more about Wick's past
Knowing more about the hierarchy of hitmen at work all around Wick is certainly an exciting prospect, but what about the man himself? We're now two chapters into his tale, and yet we still know very little about Wick's past, outside of passing comments from his peers. We've heard about a so-called "impossible task" that he managed to complete for late mob boss Viggo Tarasov, but the only thing we know about it for sure is that it involved a lot of Viggo's competitors biting the bullet. While we may never get to see the gory details of Wick's impossible task unfold onscreen, Stahelski has confirmed that John Wick: Chapter 3 will at least shed some light on how he came to be known as the man you send to kill the Boogeyman.
"We're going to put in something about where John comes from, and where he wants to go," the director told The Independent. "In the third one, we'll be able to show what he's like as the predator, what he would have been like before the first one." For those that simply can't wait until the second sequel drops, the John Wick comics are a great head start. They begin long before the events of the movies in a time when Wick is still studying the Book of Rules (the text that "guides their lethal business") and mastering the art of the kill.
Is it really the last John Wick movie?
In 2017, The Independent asked Chad Stahelski if Parabellum was going to be the final John Wick movie, and his response wasn't exactly encouraging. "In our minds, yes," the filmmaker said. "But I'll let the studio answer those sort of questions... I don't want to say too much more, but it will be a nice completion to Mr. Wick's journey." The fact that he ultimately left the decision with the studio suggested that there was still a chance Reeves could return, but at the time Lionsgate seemed more interested in doing more John Wick movies without the character.
In July 2017, the studio purchased a screenplay called Ballerina with the intention of releasing it as a John Wick spinoff, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The script is "in the vein of La Femme Nikita [...] but with a more pulpy, hyper-stylized bent, a la Quentin Tarantino." There's been little news on the project since, however, and as the release of the third John Wick movie draws ever nearer, the conversation about a potential fourth installment continues to grow — largely led by Stahelski himself.
"I enjoy making these movies because there's no limit," the helmer told Entertainment Weekly in December 2018. "We create our own mythology, and we have a studio that both stays out of our way and supports us on the wacky decisions. If people go see the [third] movie, and it makes money, and they came back to us, Keanu and I have ideas for days."
Reeves isn't done with the role
The chances of a straight-up sequel to John Wick: Chapter 3 happening do seem small at this stage, but that doesn't mean that Keanu Reeves will never play the character again. In January 2018, Starz (owned by John Wick studio Lionsgate) confirmed that it was developing The Continental, a TV series based on the hotel that Wick and various other assassins frequent. The network announced the news at the Television Critics Association's winter press tour (via The Hollywood Reporter), revealing that Reeves would not be the star of the show but would still reprise the role for the odd appearance.
"This series is truly unlike anything else on TV," Starz CEO Chris Albrecht said of the project. "The Continental promises to include the thunderous fight sequences and intensely staged shootouts between professional assassins and their targets that fans have come to expect in the John Wick movie franchise as well as introduce some new, darkly compelling characters who inhabit this underground world." Most of the off-camera team that brought the movies to life will be involved in the series, and they'll be joined by Chris Collins (Sons of Anarchy, The Wire). Collins is said to be writing the scripts and will also act as showrunner, THR reports.
Are they setting up Ballerina?
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When the official cast list for John Wick: Chapter 3 was revealed in June 2018, most of the headlines revolved around the addition of Halle Berry. The former Bond girl will join the Wick universe as Sofia, described as "a woman on a mission." Anjelica Huston is another notable newcomer, while Asia Kate Dillon (Orange is the New Black) and Jason Mantzoukas (Transparent) are also set to join the carnage. One name that didn't get much attention is Stefaniya Makarova, a comparatively little-known actress who's been cast as a character simply named "ballet instructor."
As previously mentioned, Lionsgate purchased a screenplay named Ballerina in July 2017, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, the studio was planning to make it into a John Wick spinoff. Could Makarova (a New York-based actress, model and dancer, according to her Instagram bio) be the deadly Ballerina from Shay Hatten's script? As it stands, Chapter 3 might be Reeves' last John Wick movie, so it would make a lot of sense to introduce the character they expect to take his place in future films.
The pitbull is back
John Wick fans were delighted to see the hitman's big-eyed pitbull return to his side in Chapter 2. The badly wounded Wick rescued the animal from a waterfront clinic at the end of the first movie as a replacement for his dearly departed beagle puppy, Daisy. A video has emerged from the set of Chapter 3 that confirms the nameless pitbull is back again, and the footage in question places Wick back at the Continental. While the man himself isn't in the shot, the clip shows his four-legged friend exiting the front doors of the hotel and taking off down the street.
Speaking to MTV after the release of Chapter 2, director Chad Stahelski revealed that the dog they used (whose name is Burton) was a pleasure to work with. "You need a little bit of patience, because the dog doesn't know it's a movie," he said. "Luckily, the trainers we had were fantastic. Burton — the dog that we were using — was great. He was actually, I think, a rescue that the trainers got and trained. By far, for a pitbull, the most gentle personality you could ever imagine. He was a very patient dog."
They filmed a knife fight in Grand Central Station
When the official synopsis for John Wick: Chapter 3 was posted in April 2018, it pretty much confirmed what we already knew given the ending of the previous installment — Wick is a wanted man. "He's being hunted for a global $14 million dollar open contract on his life, and for breaking a central rule: taking a life on Continental Hotel grounds," reads the synopsis (via Collider). "John should have already been executed, except the Continental's manager, Winston, has given him a one-hour grace period before he's 'Excommunicado' — membership revoked, banned from all services and cut off from other members. John uses the service industry to stay alive as he fights and kills his way out of New York City."
The cast and crew might have been openly discussing sending Wick to exotic destinations, but fleeing New York clearly isn't going to be straightforward, even for him. Reeves has been spotted wandering around the city in a bloodied shirt, and some set footage obtained by Hollywood Pipeline shows him filming a knife fight with Mark Dacascos (presumably another assassin out for the bounty on Wick's head) right in the middle of a crowded Grand Central Station. Close-ups of that scene reveal that Reeves has a cover over his ring finger, which suggests that the VFX team are going to remove it later. He will inevitably escape the Big Apple, but it doesn't look like he'll make it out in one piece.
Is the Bowery King done for?
Wick will need to go underground to escape from NYC, and the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) can help him quite literally do just that. After being spared by Wick many years ago, Fishburne's character rose through the ranks of the criminal underworld and ended up as the head of a network of assassins who stay hidden in plain sight, dressing as homeless people and using New York's network of sewers to move around. The Bowery King avoids using traditional lines of communication, trusting his homing pigeons to deliver his messages.
More footage leaked from the set of John Wick: Chapter 3 shows Fishburne releasing one of his birds just before being cut down by Mark Dacascos, who slashes him across the front twice with what appears to be a large blade. The Bowery King is likely to be one of Wick's only allies this time out, and it looks as though he's going to pay the ultimate price for helping him out. Chances are he was using his pigeon to send Wick one last message before he was taken out. Mute assassin Ares (Ruby Rose) is also present in the scene, clearly back on the hunt for Wick after he left her for dead in Chapter 2.
The title is officially 'John Wick 3: Parabellum'
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For a while, most of us assumed that the third John Wick film would follow a trend set by the second one and go by the name John Wick: Chapter 3. But when Omega Underground reported that the working title had been changed from Alpha Cop to Parabellum, the new title raised some questions. Coming Soon took these questions directly to the star of the franchise, asking Keanu Reeves outright if the title was going to be John Wick: Chapter 3 or John Wick: Parabellum.
"It's both," he said, revealing that the official title of his third outing as the titular hitman would in fact be called John Wick 3: Parabellum.
When Coming Soon pressed Reeves for more details on the meaning of this title, the actor explained that the word Parabellum is derived from a well-known Latin phrase, the meaning of which couldn't be more fitting for the John Wick franchise. "It's part of that famous sentence, 'Si vis pacem, para bellum,' which translates as, 'If you want peace, prepare for war,'" Reeves said. Preparing for war is exactly what Wick (who, as you'll recall, has a $14 million contract out on his life) will be doing during the opening moments of John Wick 3: Parabellum.
Sofia and John 'have a past'
In June 2018, the official John Wick Twitter account revealed that Halle Berry had joined the cast of the third film as a character named Sofia. The announcement was accompanied by a promo image of Berry flanked by two dogs, along with a caption that said Sofia was "a woman on a mission," but that's all we learned. The photo confirmed that Sofia, like Wick, is a dog person, but it wasn't until Keanu Reeves sat down with Coming Soon that we finally got to know a bit more about her role.
"John Wick is fighting for his life and thinks that Halle Berry's character has some information for him," Reeves revealed. "They have a past, and they get involved with the High Table, this kind of overlording entity." Reeves once again mentioned that there's history between John and Sofia when the cast and crew spoke to Entertainment Weekly in December 2018, but the director of the movie went one step further, revealing that Berry's two "canine assistants" are a reminder of a lost love.
"Whereas John's puppy was symbolic of his wife, Halle's two dogs are symbolic of someone she's lost," Chad Stahelski said. "They work very well tactically." The filmmaker let slip that there's an entire action sequence based around the two Belgian Malinois dogs, and judging from the high-octane workout routine that Berry has been sticking to, it seems pretty likely that Sofia is an old colleague (and perhaps even an old flame) from the assassin game.
It will have the highest kill count yet
Lionsgate
When the first John Wick came out in 2014, part of the fascination with the movie was based around the sheer number of people that the dispatched over the course of 101 brutal and bloody minutes. A popular YouTube video had the total number at 76, but that turned out to be inaccurate. When John Wick stunt coordinator and co-director David Leitch spoke to Empire magazine, he confirmed that the actual kill count was higher still.
"That number's a little light," he said (via CinemaBlend). "I saw that video, but they forgot to count the guys in the various SUVs he crashed and blew up. If you include them then it's actually 84." That number rose to 128 in 2017's John Wick: Chapter 2, with Wick using any means necessary to survive during the sequel — this incredibly detailed infographic breaks down each kill and the method used, from the type of weapon to Wick's accuracy with it. It doesn't make good reading for the people out to get Wick, and there'll be plenty of those around in the third film, which will apparently push the boat out even further.
According Chad Stahelski, Chapter 3 will have the highest kill count yet, with Wick set to make even more corpses than he did in the previous instalment. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the director confirmed that the final death count will "land slightly north" of Chapter 2. "This one, I'm already looking for janitorial jobs," he joked.
Anjelica Huston is 'The Director'
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We've known for quite some time that Anjelica Huston (star of the Addams Family films and one of Wes Anderson's many muses) is appearing in John Wick 3: Parabellum, but it wasn't until Christmas Eve 2018 that the importance of her role in the movie started to become apparent. It was then that Empire released an exclusive image of Huston in character, sitting opposite John Wick in a shady room looking as glam as ever in a blood-red outfit. According to Keanu Reeves, Huston's character "The Director" is a member of the High Table with ties to a group of traveling assassins.
"We're trying to make it that there are different tribes, less nondescript assassins," said Reeves. "Anjelica Huston is playing this Roma Ruska character." The Roma Ruska people (also known as the "Xaladitka Roma," meaning Gypsy soldiers) are widespread throughout Russia, found everywhere from the Polish territories in the west to the border with China in the east. They have a reputation for being extremely tough — in fact, they are the only Roma group who actively enlist in the Russian Army.
It seems as though there'll be a group of Ruska Roma assassins led by Huston in the third movie, and Wick himself might even be one of them. When director Chad Stahelski spoke to Entertainment Weekly, he confirmed that Huston's character is "someone who was responsible for [Wick's] upbringing and his protection." Does this mean Wick was raised Roma?
Horsing around
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Another interesting fact about the Ruska Roma people is that they're known to be good with horses, and John Wick is clearly an expert — how else could he escape two men on motorcycles while on horseback? In October 2018, Chad Stahelski released an official image from John Wick 3: Parabellum in which the titular assassin is riding a black steed between moving cars on a busy New York road, with masked men (presumably out to collect the bounty on Wick's head) in hot pursuit.
This might seem a bit far-fetched to those who have never been to New York, but there are plenty of horses in the city, whether they're taking tourists around Central Park or being ridden by NYPD mounted unit officers. According to Stahelski, the third chapter in the John Wick story will include a number of animals, including "horses, dogs, cats, a raven [and] a bunch of pigeons." We know Wick is a dog person (this franchise wouldn't exist if he wasn't), and the man who plays him clearly loves dogs in real life, but how comfortable is Keanu Reeves around horses?
Judging from some behind the scenes footage posted to Twitter in 2018, the actor is very comfortable indeed when it comes to being on horseback. Reeves and his stuntman are both on set for the horse scene, though it's clear that the Matrix star has filmed at least some of the chase himself.
Wick is going to 'suffer'
His past may still be shrouded in mystery, but there's one thing that we know for sure about John Wick — the guy knows how to take a beating. The first movie opens with him spilling out of a car, bleeding and half dead. If behind the scenes footage from the Parabellum shoot is anything to go by, Wick will start the third movie in a similar fashion.
The Daily Mail were among the many outlets that shared a video of Reeves running/limping through the streets of New York with blood all over his trademark white shirt. We're used to seeing Wick all beat up at this point, and that's very much by design. "I'm a big fan of Joseph Campbell's mythologies of the hero and what he would have defined as the theater of pain, or sometimes we call it 'The Die Hard Conundrum': We just to like to beat the [stuffing] out of our heroes," Chad Stahelski said in January 2019. The stuntman-turned-director was speaking with USA Today, who clearly decided to use "stuffing" instead of a different word, but you get the idea.
"If you choose that kind of lifestyle, you're going to be pretty beat up," Stahelski continued. "So we like John Wick to suffer and think Keanu loves for John Wick to suffer, too." Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Reeves confirmed that the action literally picks up where Chapter 2 left off, with Wick in direct danger of being assassinated — and it "goes crazy from there."
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