John Wick: Chapter 4 is out now and has been a smash hit at the box office and critically. When it came to making a new film set in the John Wick universe, star Keanu Reeves first had to ask “why” and also revealed that he wouldn’t rule out a return for a fifth film.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Reeves was asked about how the discussions for a fourth film came to be. Despite John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum ending on a cliffhanger, Reeves said that he and director Chad Stahelski still had to come up with the “why” of making a fourth film.
“The first conversation we had was, ’Why? Why make it?’” said Reeves. “And the note behind that note is, what’s the story? And for he and I, it felt like, what was authentic and true was John Wick’s journey to death. That was the first idea; that was the why of why we made the movie. That, for us, was the organic, authentic story to tell for the character of John Wick and the John Wick world. So that was the first idea, that was the first like, that’s what we’re going to do. Okay, now let’s invent a story of how that happens.”
As Reeves mentioned, the ending of John Wick: Chapter 4 finally sees the titular hitman succumbing to death, albeit peacefully after having earned his freedom in a duel against friend and fellow hitman Caine (Donnie Yen). Of course, despite Wick seemingly have died at the end of the film, Reeves said that he would “never say never” about returning to the franchise for a fifth film.
“I don’t know, I guess I’m going to have to lean on never say never,” Reeves said. “I mean, I wouldn’t do a John Wick film without Chad Stahelski. We’d have to see what that looked like. For me, it feels really right that John Wick finds peace.”
John Wick: Chapter 4 is now available in theaters.