Although John Wick: Chapter 4 has been teased to not be the conclusive chapter of the series, it appeared to be the end for the titular assassin as he seemingly dies on the steps of Paris’ Sacre Coeur.
Something that its leading actor Keanu Reeves wanted to happen, at least according to John Wick producer Basil Iwanyk who revealed Reeves’ wishes during a recent interview with Collider.
Keanu Reeves Wanted John Wick’s Death To Be Definitive
Iwanyk confessed during the interview that Reeves was begging to be “definitively” killed off at the end of the fourth instalment of the extremely popular franchise.
It’s mentioned that he wanted this to happen so that he could finally have some rest due to how physically and emotionally demanding each project is for the now 59-year-old actor.
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Despite Reeves wanting to “definitively” be killed off, they settled to meet in the middle with the cryptic ending that audiences were treated to in theatres. With the franchise now being one of the most popular Reeves-led movie series to date, the studio decided to leave the door open for the actor to potentially return.
John Wick 4’s Cryptic Ending Planned By Producers
Iwanyk told Collider: “After the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th movie, making these films is so exhausting and it destroys Keanu, physically and emotionally”.
He added: “By the end, he’s always like, ‘I can’t do this again,’ and we agree with him. The guy is just a shell of himself because he just goes off and goes for it.”
Related: Chad Stahelski: Keanu Reeves Would Say “F*** Yeah” To Doing John Wick 5
He continued: “He was like, ‘I wanna be definitively killed at the end of [John Wick: Chapter 4]’ We were like, ‘You know, we’ll leave a 10% little opening.”
Is John Wick 5 Happening?
Director Chad Stahelski mentioned last month that he had talked with Reeves about a potential John Wick: Chapter 5, as he told Josh Horowitz on his Happy Sad Confused show that the titular actor would say “‘f*** yeah’” if asked.
So, to put it simply, the director and producers of the franchise all seem pretty keen to get a fifth John Wick chapter in the works, with Reeves seemingly being up for it too, despite wanting his death to be definitive.
It’s fair to assume that Reeves’ Wick will eventually go out swinging, but if the team behind the franchise have their say, it won’t be anytime soon.
John Wick’s spinoff prequel series The Continental premieres on Peacock on September 22.
Source: Collider