Keanu Reeves’ return to John Wick 5 would mean repeating a major mistake from that other billion-dollar action franchise

JohnWick 5 There could be a return of Keanu Reeves in the title role, but a return would be a repeat of the big mistake of another billion-dollar action franchise. John Wick: Chapter 4 ended with John finally finding peace after gaining freedom from the High Table, he finally succumbed to all he had been through. His death seemingly marks the end of the franchise and provides a final closure to his character. He will, however, return briefly in the upcoming spinoff. ballerinawhere he will once again fight alongside Ana de Armas’ Rooney.

But ballerina takes place before the events of Chapter 4which gives Reeves a reason to return to the role. However, the success of the franchise has led to Lionsgate announcing that JohnWick 5 happened. Although nothing has been announced about the sequel, the title suggests that Reeves would return as John for another action-packed thriller. However, if John were brought back from the dead, or it turned out that he was alive all along, the sequel would risk repeating a major mistake made by another highly successful action franchise.

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John Wick 5: The return of Keanu Reeves would be a repeat of a Fast & Furious problem

The return of dead characters kills the tension

The Fast & Furious The franchise is notorious for reviving characters believed dead as main plot points for some of his later films. This began with Letty Ortiz’s alleged death in Fast & FuriousShe later revealed that she was alive with amnesia in Fast & Furious 6One of the biggest recent examples is Han, whose death has left much of the story behind Angry 7although it later turned out that he was alive F9. Finally the end of Fast X revealed that Gisele was still alive, despite seemingly falling to her death in the sixth film.

The problem with bringing dead characters back to life so arbitrarily is that it no longer creates a sense of danger for the heroes of the franchise. For this reason, if it turns out that John in JohnWick 5it would devalue the ending of the previous film. Although it is never clear whether John really died in Chapter 4, his tombstone allows for many interpretations, including one in which he finally finds peace. However, by removing this interpretable ending, a sequel would make his final quest seem less important and final.

The John Wick franchise has so far escaped another major Fast & Furious problem

Action scenes have not yet become too unbelievable

Despite the risk of bringing John back for another film, the franchise has managed to avoid another core problem: Fast & Furious‘ later entries. In many of the later films in the autofocused saga, the characters do wilder, death-defying stunts that become more over-the-top than the last. This includes everything from Dom and Brian safely falling over 100 feet into a river in Fast Fiveuntil Roman and Tej fly into space in F9Over the course of 10 films, their adventures evolve from realistic to absurd.

In contrast, The John Wick Movies have bigger action scenes with each filmfrom a break-in in the first film to an hours-long bloodbath in Chapter 4. Despite some unrealistic elements, the films have never become so unbelievable that they differ too much from the previous installments. By managing this balance brilliantly, the action franchise avoids becoming as unrealistic as many Fast & Furious Movies are. But that doesn’t mean it would make sense for the series to bring John back to life.

Should there be a “John Wick 5” after four great films?

To be successful, serious change is needed

Although it would be exciting to see Reeves again in another film as John, JohnWick 5 with him in the lead role would ruin the perfect story told over the course of the first four entries. Although there are definitive answers about his whereabouts in Chapter 4 would be interesting, it is at the expense of the use Fast & Furious‘ biggest mistake. Showing that he’s alive also takes the tension out of his fights, since it’s clear that he won’t suffer any life-threatening injuries even at the end of the film.

Although JohnWick 5 has already been confirmed, the way it is presented should try to avoid the return of the title character, as Fast & Furious has finalized its cast. Perhaps the next installment in the action thriller series can be a prequel focusing on how John left the table for the first time. This would make it possible Chapter 4The ending remains unchanged and at the same time offers more action-packed sequences from Reeves himself. But even in a prequel film, one would have to avoid becoming too ridiculous and drifting too much into the racing series.

John Wick

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Derek Kolstad

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Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, Lance Reddick, Willem Dafoe, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Laurence Fishburne, Anjelica Huston, Bill Skarsgård, Mel Gibson, Donnie Yen