Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Ballerina!

Ballerina is the first John Wick spinoff movie, and while I really enjoyed it, the film also confirmed my biggest fear about the future of the John Wick franchise. I love John Wick, with the Keanu Reeves action franchise being one of my favorite movie series of all time. I was excited by the prospect of spinoff projects, leading to Ballerina being one of my most highly-anticipated movies of 2025. However, one detail seen in the Ballerina trailers concerned me, and after seeing the movie, I am skeptical about where the John Wick franchise is headed next.

Ballerina shifts the focus away from Keanu Reeves’ John Wick and onto Ana de Armas’ Eve Macarro, a ballerina ᴀssᴀssin for the Ruska Roma. In the film, Eve trains with the family before leaving on a quest to get revenge, hunting down her father’s killers. Ballerina does a lot of work to set Eve up as the next protagonist of the John Wick franchise, and I would love to see her more in the future. However, Ballerina also signals that the franchise is afraid to move away from Keanu Reeves.

John Wick Has A Much Bigger Presence In Ballerina Than I Ever Expected (& That’s Not A Good Thing)

It Cheapens The Impact Of His Death

In the trailers for Ballerina, Keanu Reeves’ John Wick was seen, confirming that he would appear in the film. I already wasn’t the biggest fan of this, but since Ballerina takes place in between John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum and John Wick: Chapter 4, it made sense. However, Wick was in Ballerina so much more than I expected. He was one of the most prominent characters in the film, with him sharing several scenes with Eve and even taking part in several action sequences.

While Keanu Reeves is the face of John Wick, having him be so prevalent throughout Ballerina isn’t a good thing. John Wick died in John Wick: Chapter 4, giving a conclusive end to his story. The announcement of John Wick: Chapter 5 already made me concerned about how the franchise would handle the repercussions of this death, and Ballerina has already gotten off to a bad start. By refusing to have a single movie without Keanu Reeves, it signals that John Wick is afraid to move on from him, putting the future of the series in jeopardy.

John Wick 5’s Development Has Already Signaled The Franchise Is Afraid To Lose Keanu Reeves

Even After John Wick’s Death

When John Wick died in John Wick: Chapter 4, the ᴀssumption that many fans made was that the 2023 film was the last mainline entry. However, John Wick: Chapter 5 was announced shortly after John Wick: Chapter 4 was released, causing many to scratch their heads. There has never been a supernatural element to the franchise, meaning that bringing John Wick back would be an odd choice. Thus, the fact that the series is seemingly doing this signals how desperate they are to not lose Keanu Reeves.

John Wick Is Doing A Movie Without Keanu Reeves, But It Needs More

Caine Can’t Be The Only One

If the John Wick franchise wants to survive, it needs to focus more on characters who aren’t John Wick. One of the announced John Wick spinoff movies is already a step in the right direction. The spinoff movie centered around Caine seems to not have Keanu Reeves involved at all, proving that the franchise can do at least one movie without Wick.

However, this isn’t enough. Even if the spinoffs are doing the correct thing, releasing mainline movies that bring Keanu Reeves back will make it feel as if the franchise doesn’t have consequences. Instead of doing John Wick: Chapter 5, the franchise should have just focused on the spinoffs, using Ballerina, The Continental, the Caine movie, and more to find the franchise’s next big protagonist.