John Wick: Chapter 5 has a high bar to reach following the success of Chapter 4, and there are many obstacles ahead. The fourth film in the John Wick franchise ended with Baba Yaga himself (Keanu Reeves) seemingly meeting his Maker after winning his freedom from the High Table. This conclusion was a fitting end to John’s journey. Despite that, the movie still presented an opportunity for the saga to continue with its main protagonist due to its ambiguous ending.

Unsurprisingly, Lionsgate later broke the news of John Wick: Chapter 5‘s development at CinemaCon 2025, with Reeves and director Chad Stahelski returning. While this may be good news for fans of Reeves and his John Wick movies, the upcoming film has multiple challenges to overcome if it is to be a worthy follow-up to John Wick: Chapter 4. The franchise’s fifth chapter needs to be a natural, fitting addition to John’s story that adds to his character, all while featuring the fascinating characters and artistic ultraviolence that helped make the saga so popular.

1

The Sequel Must Tell A Fresh Story

John Wick 5 Needs To Avoid Repeating Its Predecessors

After the first John Wick movie, the franchise has mainly been about the protagonist trying to escape death and his life of crime as he’s hunted down by countless ᴀssᴀssins. John Wick: Chapter 5 will have to stand out from the previous chapters by breaking this narrative trend. Chapter 4 ended with John winning his freedom from the High Table after killing the Marquis, so the sequel has already found a way to tell a unique story.

Fortunately, in an interview with Empire, Stahelski has already shown he understands this. He teased the new direction that he intends to take the franchise in with John Wick: Chapter 5, sharing his plans for the protagonist’s character following the events of the fourth film. Based on Stahelski’s statement, it’s clear that Chapter 5 will be a far different story than what was seen in the last few John Wick movies. He explained:

The saga of John Wick was pretty wrapped up. So the only way to do a 5 is to have a new story that involves John Wick. It’s not a continuation, with the High Table. John dealt with his grief. It will be really different, and everyone [will] see the trailer and go, ‘Holy f***…I gotta see that.’

2

John Wick Needs A Compelling New Threat

Who Will Be The Next Big Bad Of The John Wick Universe?

Since Stahelski stated that the High Table won’t be the main antagonist of John Wick: Chapter 5, the sequel has some huge shoes to fill in that area. The council of crime lords has been the main antagonistic force of the John Wick franchise, standing as an almost all-knowing, all-powerful organization constantly trying to control or kill John through one agent or several others. It has long served as the biggest threat to his existence.

If Reeves’ character is finally free from the High Table after John Wick: Chapter 4, the fifth movie needs to come up with a truly great villain that will really challenge John as a fighter and a person. One reason why the franchise has been so compelling for so long is how it shows John facing such overwhelming odds organized by the High Table, making him a character to root for. Unless there’s another powerful crime syndicate lurking in the shadows, it’s hard to see how John Wick: Chapter 5 can top that.

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It Needs A Strong Set Of New Characters

John Wick May Need A New Crew On His Next Adventure

Over the years, many interesting characters have walked in and out of the John Wick franchise. The latter is mostly due to them getting killed off, as expected in their world of crime and killers. Following Charon’s (Lance Reddick) death in John Wick: Chapter 4, Winston (Ian McShane) and the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) seem to be the only mainstays of the franchise, given how they supported John throughout his quest. However, if John actually faked his death in Chapter 4, it’s unclear if they’ll be involved with him again in the fifth film, as it may be best if he stays away from them.

John Wick: Chapter 5 will likely have to come up with a compelling new cast to join John in his next adventure. Though characters like Caine (Donnie Yen), Akira (Rina Sawayama), and Mr. Nobody (Shamier Anderson) could return to aid him in his endeavors, it seems they are focused on their own adventures. This is especially likely since a Caine spinoff film is now in development. Since John now has the chance to start fresh after his supposed death, it would seem fitting that he finds a fresh group of allies in the next chapter of his life.

John could even train another young ᴀssᴀssin to carry on his legacy and help them survive in their dangerous world. Such a character would give the franchise a new protagonist to follow and a new saga that doesn’t completely center around John. Reeves seemed ready to put John Wick behind him after Chapter 4 when discussing the character’s “death.” Chapter 5 could give him a satisfying exit while moving the franchise forward by giving John a protége.

4

The Film Needs To Address The Impact Of John’s “Death”

The Baba Yaga’s Pᴀssing Still Needs To Mean Something

Though John Wick: Chapter 5 will feature the return of Reeves’ character, his supposed death still needs to have an effect on his world. He was already a legendary figure among his fellow ᴀssᴀssins and the High Table, given his reputation as the dreaded Baba Yaga, and he seemed on his way to becoming a martyr during his war against the council.

After fighting off armies of ᴀssᴀssins, killing the Elder, and winning his freedom from the High Table, John’s “death” would undoubtedly send shockwaves through the criminal underworld. This could affect how everyone sees themselves and those in power, which could even lead to more rebellions and changes in the High Table’s system. While John may have been ready to move on from his life of crime, the film should still address what his death meant for the world he left behind.

5

Topping The Action

John Wick 5 Needs To Be Another Action-Packed Art Gallery

Thanks to the film’s creative minds and high production budget, John Wick: Chapter 4 had some of the franchise’s most outstanding fight scenes. These violent spectacles include John’s long staircase fight and his Dragon’s Breath shootout. Since these battles left the franchise on such a high note, it’s hard to imagine how the filmmakers could top these action scenes in John Wick: Chapter 5. Stahelski has expressed his desire to incorporate elements of Chinese cinema into Chapter 5 in order to distinguish it from the other movies.

Specifically, the director has shared his love for the movies by Wong Kar-wai, Zhang Yimou, Tsui Hark, and John Woo, meaning the sequel should present fight scenes that pay homage to those seen in these filmmakers’ works. Previous John Wick movies took inspiration from Samurai movies and the works of David Lean, Sergio Leone, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Andrei Tarkovsky. Based on Stahelski’s comments, the fifth film should incorporate another distinctive style of action to help it stand out from previous chapters in the franchise.

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Explaining John Wick’s Return

How Does John Come Back From The ᴅᴇᴀᴅ?

Time to address the elephant in the room. It looked like John Wick had died and was buried at the end of John Wick: Chapter 4, with Winston and the Bowery King seemingly mourning his death. However, John’s body was never shown being put into the ground, and the grave didn’t even look freshly dug, leaving his true fate up for debate and the door open for another sequel with him, alive and well.

Throughout the franchise, John has survived several seemingly fatal injuries, far more than one person can handle. However, if the fifth film shows Baba Yaga alive and well, the sequel will have to convincingly explain how he really survived without sounding too convoluted or far-fetched for audiences to be satisfied. The alternate ending to John Wick: Chapter 4, which showed an alive John looking at his tombstone, didn’t go over well with audiences and so was scrapped. It’s clear from this backlash that Wick’s “resurrection” in John Wick: Chapter 5 can’t be a simple cop-out.

Source: Empire