Spoiler Alert: Spoilers follow for John Wick: Chapter 4Even as Chad Stahelski and company insist it’s in the works, a possibleJohn Wick: Chapter 5still remains a huge question mark among cinephiles (especially sinceKeanu Reeves cast uncertainty on it). By all accounts,Chapter 4was a perfect ending, assuming the creative team decided to leave things there, as it poignantly tied up the title character’s arc and sent Reeves out on a high note. On the other hand, it feels like the unexpected breakout action franchise only keeps expanding, as this year sees the release of the spin-off film,Ballerina, and there’s reportedly an animated prequel and a film focused solely onChapter 4standout Caine.
If the creative team does decide to continue, they’ve already given themselves enough wiggle room that it’d be far from the most contrived franchise continuation out there. Admittedly, it’s a bit more poignant for John Wick to stay dead, like he appeared to be at the end ofChapter 4, but it’s also a common staple for action heroes to fake their deaths. But we’re firmly of the mind that they should only bring back the title character if they can give him an even more fitting wrap-up, and a popular fan theory spells an enticing direction for exactly this.
What Would a Fifth ‘John Wick’ Entail?
Last year saw theannouncement of a TV sequel series,John Wick: Under the High Table. While details on the show are light at the moment, the initial announcement revealed that several new characters will take the spotlight, looking to claim power after Wick’s actions in the climax ofChapter 4shook up the status quo. It also seems safe to assume thatwe’ll get more focus on the inner workings and traditions of the High Table itself.
And the theory speculates thatthis series would function as a sort of midquel betweenChapter 4and a fifth installment, which would see Keanu Reeves return. The plot would obviously kick off by confirming the popular theory that Wick faked his death at the end ofChapter 4, and that his brief respite in peace would be interrupted once again as assassins try to kill him. Thus,his ultimate endgame would see him aiming for the biggest target imaginable — the head of the High Table itself.
As such,Wick would now be purelymotivated not by revenge, but by survival. Taking over the High Table, while still forcing him to remain tied to his past, would allow him the highest guarantee of safety possible, with the power to change the council’s rules and grant assassins the life of freedom that he never got. And while bittersweet, it would also tie nicely with one of the franchise’s key thematic conceits — thatit’s impossible to completely escape the past.
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Would This Be a Worthy Conclusion to ‘John Wick’?
Regardless of whether this theory ends up bearing fruit, it’s important to note thatChapter 4already gave usa near-perfect conclusion.Allowing John Wick to die a free man (assuming his death actually is permanent) and buried next to his wife feels like the best possible terms the character could’ve gone out. As such, any direct sequel runs an inherent risk of undercutting the emotional final moments ofChapter 4, and whatever Stahelski and company come up with would have to be undeniable in quality to avoid fracturing the fanbase.
It goes without saying thatbringing Wick back for a fifth chapter just to permanently kill him off again would be redundant, especially considering how many times he escaped death throughout the franchise. And admittedly, an ending in which he becomes the new head of the High Table would be a bit of a downer; as he “died” inChapter 4, he looked at peace for the first time in the series, free from his debts.Forcing him to spend the rest of his life as the leader of the life he tried to escape from feels undeniably tragic, even if he used his power to ensure other assassins didn’t share his fate.
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Then again, it’s not likeJohn Wickas a franchise has ever avoided closing things out on a bittersweet note. Even the original film (which, tellingly, was originally intended to be standalone) ended on a downer, illustrating how Wick, despite his best intentions, will never be able to fully shed his life as an assassin, and thus is now out of retirement permanently.The proposedChapter 5would be a strangely fitting bookend to the series and stay true to the tragedy Stahelski and Reeves saw as important to their story.
Of course, regardless of whether we see Reeves again in arguably his best role, there’s clearly no end in sight for the actual franchise, thanks to the numerousupcoming spin-off films and TV series. But assuming this version ofChapter 5actually comes to fruition and proves an even stronger ending thanChapter 4— yeah, we’re thinking we’ll be back.John Wick1-3are streaming on Hulu, whileChapter 4is streaming on Starz.
