John Wick 4 Director Teases Keanu Reeves’ Involvement in Ballerina

John Wick: Chapter 4 director Chad Stahelski has revealed the kind of role Keanu Reeves will be playing as John Wick in the upcoming spin-off Ballerina. The movie will introduce a new protagonist, played by Ana de Armas. Stalhelski also revealed all the characters from the John Wick universe he would like to see more of and explore their journey.

John Wick in Ballerina

The upcoming Ballerina spin-off movie is set between John Wick 3 and 4. Due to that, Stalhelski told Screen Rant that there is a sort of inside joke going on in Ballerina, shared by John Wick and the audience, given that the audience knows the events that have transpired in both movies. He further explained, “We all know where he’s going. We all know the route he’s been. So when they have their scenes, you kind of get the inside joke, even if Ballerina character doesn’t understand.”

He also added that there is a meta-conversation going on due to the audience’s understanding of John Wick’s action and journey. The director also mentions how Ana de Armas’ character is getting advice from John Wick, but there is a dilemma on choosing which advice to adopt and act on since the character has not lived through events that shaped John Wick’s philosophy.

“John’s giving advice and tutelage. Maybe even a little bit of advice on how to choose and choose wisely. But until that choice is really put to you that advice doesn’t really mean much. So, it’s an interesting little dilemma that they’ve created in it,” added Stahelski.

Characters from John Wick movies

Stahelski also talked about characters from the franchise that he would like to see explored beyond the John Wick movies. There are already spin-offs in works such as Ballerina and The Continental. Both projects have different directors heading them. He mentioned Akira, Bowery King, Donnie Yen’s character, Shamir, and Halle Berry’s character when it came to characters he would like to see more of, to map their journey so far and what lies next for them.

“I want to see if Common survived the second movie. Did he come back out of retirement for that? I’d like to see The Adjudicator Asia Kate Dillon again,” Stahelski said.