We’ve known that the John Wick universe is ever-expanding. We’ve got the spinoff film Ballerina hitting theaters next summer as well as a television sequel series called Under the High Table in the works along with a film starring Donnie Yen’s Caine.
There’s also a feature anime that director Chad Stahelski said was “knee-deep in development” in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Stahelski also shared that the feature was a prequel to the movies and, when he was asked, admitted that it touches on the events that allowed John Wick to retire and enjoy married life. “You’re pretty right on, but it’s animated fun,” he said. “It’s meant to be fun. Some of the prequels and sequels that you see in other franchises, we’re not meant to be built that way. We just want to have fun. We want to have fun with the Wick world, but we’ve already capped it on one end [with John Wick: Chapter 4], so let’s go back and use a different medium.”
Speaking of the end-cap that is John Wick: Chapter 4, Stahelski also said that a fifth movie wasn’t out of the question. “In the last three years, I’ve already had three or four versions of a John Wick 5. They were different ways to crack the story, but it’s almost a mental exercise for me,” he said.
He later added that any additional feature “would not be part of that [John Wick: Chapter 4] storyline. It would not be what you would think it is. If we could ever crack it to where Keanu [Reeves, who plays John Wick] and I thought it was a great idea and it didn’t feel like a cheese-out, then that’s great. But as far as [John Wick: Chapter 4], we’ve peaked. At least, I have. That’s my apex. We ended it. It’s a complete story. I watch it now, and I feel very happy about it, but we wouldn’t try to outdo it. We wouldn’t try to add on to that. It’d have to be a completely different storyline.”
