Keanu Reeves’ 3 Upcoming John Wick Projects, Ranked By Hype

The Baba Yaga is coming back, multiple times, in fact. Keanu Reeves found a mid-career renaissance by playing the hired hitman of few words in 2014’s John Wick. It became a cult hit and spawned an entire franchise, one that is now expanding into a multi-media universe. And even though it looked like John Wick died in John Wick: Chapter 4, Reeves keeps finding ways to return.

After landing a role in Ballerina by placing it further back in the John Wick timeline, the series has found three opportunities for Reeves to play John again. Each option is different than the others, providing fans of different media forms and avenues of storytelling a chance to experience new chapters in the mercenary’s life. They’re all exciting, but one has the most hype behind it.

3

John Wick’s “Impossible Task” Anime Prequel

Rather than undo the character’s death, Lionsgate and series director/producer Chad Stahelski have confirmed we’ll see John’s story continue with a prequel focusing on the “impossible task” teased in the original movie. It will explain how Reeves’ character got out of the clutches of the underground assassin world the first time, so he could be with his wife, Helen.

Part of what makes the untitled prequel so exciting is that it will bring John Wick into the realm of anime. We don’t yet know what the animation style will look like, but the idea of bringing the franchise to this landscape is perfect. The striking visuals and stylized action often present in anime are two hallmarks of the John Wick movies.

Stahelski even admitted that anime has long been an influence on him while making these movies, so it should be a natural transition for the franchise to make at this point. The potential that the project holds from a narrative and visual perspective is really enticing.

The only thing really holding it back is knowing to some degree how this chapter has to end. And if John is as tight-lipped as usual, Reeves’ requirements as a voice actor could be quite limited.

2

John Wick: Chapter 5

There will always be a certain level of excitement that comes from seeing Reeves physically play John Wick. His commitment to doing all the action scenes and stunts himself is truly impressive. It’ll be tough for those moments to ever become stale or repetitive, considering the care put into each one.

That gives John Wick 5 some baked-in hype, but it’s also surrounded with uncertainty. We don’t even know for certain if this project will come to fruition, as it really depends on how the script shakes out and whether the timing is right for Stahelski and Reeves.

But the biggest holdup to it is the inevitability of the sequel undoing John’s death. The franchise gave the hitman a satisfying conclusion, so it’s difficult to fully get behind the notion of John Wick 4 being a lie. The results will undoubtedly be entertaining, should John Wick 5 happen, but it’ll need to find a great reason to pull John back into action.

Knowing more could elevate this higher, as we really just have to trust in Stahelski and Reeves to only make this one if the story is right, not just for what would likely be significant paydays for both.

1

Untitled John Wick Video Game

While we’ve seen John Wick in the movies and the franchise on TV, it’s the series’ expansion into video games that has generated massive hype. Saber and Lionsgate’s surprise reveal of the untitled John Wick video game certainly played some role in this, as this was not an expected announcement to come from the franchise at this point.

And while details on the game are still sparse, the early looks at it have been incredibly promising. The combat scenes feel straight out of the films. Only now we’ll all get a chance to feel like we’re John within this world rather than just watching him. There should be a lot of entertainment value found here.

It helps that the John Wick game is the only upcoming project that we’ve actually seen anything from, too. While the anime prequel and John Wick 5 are left up to our imaginations, the trailer gives us an accurate idea of what is coming, even if it doesn’t contain actual gameplay.

Getting to become John Wick for an original prequel story sounds incredible, especially with Reeves’ voice behind the character again. So while the other John Wick projects will let us watch another chapter in his life unfold, this will be the first one where fans can be more active participants in everything that happens.