John Wick: Chapter 4 has been out for over a week now. I’m sure most of those that were wanting to see the film has already seen it by now. Because of that, now is a good time to talk about the big spoilers for the picture, particularly it’s rather surprising ending. While I haven’t seen too many thoughts about the the ending, I would imagine people are rather split down the middle of it or possibly even confused about it.
Although, I do think the one ringing question that anyone has about it is whether or not the franchise itself will stand by that ending? Despite it being the best way to wrap up story of John Wick himself and have his whole journey come full circle, will Lionsgate toss the ending aside and make it a footnote for the future just so the John Wick universe itself can keep going? First off, we have to discuss what the ending was itself and everything that has led up to it.
*Warning! The rest of this article contains MAJOR spoilers for John Wick: Chapter 4! If you haven’t seen the movie yet and don’t want anything spoilers, then you might want to click off the article right now! You have been warned!*
So, basically the whole journey of John Wick: Chapter 4 has to do with John Wick himself taking the entire High Table head on with the knowledge of having both nothing and everything to live for at the same time. While there’s not anyone too attach to himself that would scar him mentally as the death of his wife and their dog did, the thought of sucking down that one last breath without avenging the death of his loved ones is something that John Wick just cannot bear. Which is why we constantly see John pursuing himself beyond measures and not stop until the High Table is stopped which would granted his freedom.
After we go through one of the most thoroughly impressive stairwell fight scenes in any film, we see John and his old pal Caine come together for one last showdown, one which was arranged from that High Table that would take place at sunset. The one that is guaranteed to gain the freedom of whoever survives the encounter. With that freedom, their name will be cleared and whoever lives will no longer be hunted by the High Table ever again.
During the showdown, John and Caine suffer serious wounds after the first two rounds of dueling. The third round comes to a halt when Caine shoots John for a third time where John appears to have missed. It’s then that De Gramont is so eager to watch John die that he wants to take matters into his own hand and kill the hitman himself. But, as it turns out, John did not actually fire the third bullet yet and uses that shot he has to kill De Gramont point blank.
After that, the Harbinger grants Caine and John their freedom from the High Table while Wintson is reinstated. While Caine is able to walk away with his injuries, John is not so fortunate. Instead, he collapses on the staircase and reminisces the lasting memories of his life and marriage that he can now fully put behind him. Now that he is free, he can rest. And rest is exactly what comes next for John, permanently.
Once he takes that one last glorious moment to remind himself that he has avenged his wife, dog, and himself, John Wick passes way due to his injuries. Sometime later, Winston and the Bowery King send their farewells to John at a gravesite where he is buried next of his wife, Helen.
He’s Dead,……Jim?
So, yep John Wick is dead! Despite everything that John has survived throughout the course of these movies and his entire life as a deadly assassin, that is what kills him. A couple of gunshots to the gut that he just didn’t have enough time to recover from. While I imagine that can be viewed as rather anticlimactic by some people to have that be the end of John Wick, I think it’s a bit more complicated than that.
I’m sure John himself could have pushed himself to survive those wounds and get it treated immediately if he wanted to. I mean this is a guy that was able to walk away after getting run over by a car repeatedly, smashed through glass walls, be thrown from one floor to another, and even survive falling down a building. If he could make it through all of that, why can’t he just do it again? The short answer: Because he had no reason to.
The main driving force for John and the reason he came out of retirement since the first movie was to hunt down his feared enemies had to do with the unfinished deeds surrounding his wife and the dog that she left behind for him. That’s why for all the stabs, punches, and gunshots he’s taken, he made himself recover from all of that. Why? Because he still had a purpose to serve, a job to serve, and a deed to finish. Without any of those, John Wick had no reason to continue doing what he does beat. However, now that he accomplishes everything he set himself out to do, he can now rest and is hopefully somewhere up top and leaving peacefully with his wife and their dog. Or, that’s at least what they wants us to think.
Will Lionsgate Stand By The Ending?
Of course, the big question is whether or not they will actually stand by that ending. After all, Lionsgate had already announced plans for a Chapter 5 before Chapter 4 was even finished, with the idea of shooting Chapter 4 and 5 back-to-back. However, that idea was eventually scraped as Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski wanting to just focus strictly on making the fourth movie. The two had also came out before the movie released that they were looking to take a break from the series and give themselves a rest for it.
However, after the early strong box office numbers for Chapter 4, there seems to be some motivation from Lionsgate to make a Chapter 5, when Stahelski even recently claiming that he would be open to return for another John Wick picture. It remains to be seen if we will get a Chapter 5 sometime soon but even then, I think we’ve gotten to a place within the universe of John Wick that it might be time to draw the focus on other characters outside of John Wick himself.
The Potential Future
We know that there is a Ballerina movie in the works with Ana De Armas that is set to come out next summer. That sounds intriguing, especially after seeing De Armas hold her own in her awesome extended cameo in No Time To Die, but that might just open the box for plenty of other interesting side stories that can be told in this universe.
There’s characters such as Sophia and Akira that have interesting backstories and connections to John Wick along with having perfect set-ups that could lead to their own movies or series. And if the post-credit scene of Chapter 4 is any indication, with Caine returning to Paris to reunite with his daughter but is approached by Akira, that could potentially be the direction that this franchise is looking towards. Whether or not Chapter 5 is made, there is still other stories that can be told without John Wick being the sole focus that could keep people interested in this franchise for the future.
I’m not gonna act like I know the future of John Wick as your guess is as good as mine. Even so, Chapter 4 does a great job of tying up the loose ends from the previous movies and having the entire series come to satisfying conclusive circle. Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahleski had a lot to be proud of with what they’ve accomplished with this series and I can’t wait to see what they’ve come up with next.
Until then, I hope the two of them are enjoying a nice relaxing vacation in Hawaii. And make sure to go see John Wick: Chapter 4 in theaters because it rocks!
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