John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
producer Basil Iwanyk shares a new explanation about why Winston shoots John at the end of the movie. Directed by franchise veteran Chad Stahelski, the third installment in the hit franchise sees Keanu Reeves return as Wick to fend off an army of ᴀssᴀssins after the High Table places a bounty on his head. The John Wick 3 ending memorably features Wick seemingly emerging victorious before Winston (Ian McShane), in a bid to regain control of his Continental H๏τel, shoots John off a rooftop.
In a new interview with The Direct, Iwanyk, who produced all four films in the franchise, breaks down Winston’s decision during the final moments of John Wick 3. The producer provides a more overarching explanation, which includes the general ethos for all characters in the John Wick ᴀssᴀssin universe, but also dives deep into the Winston and John dynamic and what was going through Winston’s head as he made the decision. Check out Iwanyk’s detailed explanation below:
So you gotta understand… The one thing we said in the first movie is that every person in the ‘John Wick’ movies is a bad guy or villain. That there’s no purity anywhere except for Helen, that everybody is cursed and stained and has done horrible things.
There’s a line I’m going to butcher, but it was like a mantra that I had for this movie when we first bought it. It’s just, I’m paraphrasing, but it was Paul Newman. And there’s a toast in ‘Road to Perdition,’ the whole crime family is in this huge room. And he goes, ‘I don’t know anything for sure, but I know one thing: nobody in this room will ever see heaven.’ And I remember going, these are cursed men.
And then the other thing you gotta understand is Winston. Everything’s transactional right now. By the by, John, with four, you start realizing there’s a crack in there that he actually looks at John as like surrogate son. And so for Winston, there’s never really one reason why he makes a move. In other words, he’ll make a move, and he’ll leave just enough openings to be able to repackage the move.
And so I truly believe when he shoots him, and this is not a cop-out, I think there was one part of him that said, Okay, this is going to get me good with the High Table, and I’m going to be okay, and we’ll live happily ever after. And then I think there’s another part of him that said, Okay, I’m going to do this in a way where John could live because I may need him in the future.
And because if he really wanted to kill John Wick… You don’t shoot a guy once and stumble and then he falls off. You shoot him like five times. In it, you literally chop, as Keanu would always suggest when we were making these movies, he’s like, I want my head chopped off. Like, it would be something barbaric.
And so I think, yes, he did shoot him. And I think that if he died, I think Winston would be prepared for that, but I don’t think he was also that upset that he lived. He was playing the angles, playing. And Winston is always planning. There’s always what you think his agenda is, and the agenda underneath and the agenda underneath there.
What Winston Shooting John Means For The John Wick Franchise
Where The Dynamic Could Go Next
Though it might be a stretch to call Winston and John friends, the two are, clearly, friendly. From their initial interactions in the first movie, it’s apparent that there is a bond between these two men, both of whom have done terrible things. In fact, Winston and Charon (Lance Reddick) are really the only two people in the franchise that John can rely on for any help at all, and this is significant because John spends most of the four John Wick movies fending off an army of other ᴀssᴀssins.
Right now, it’s not clear if John Wick 5 will ever come to fruition. Stahelski has expressed an openness to making another installment, but only if a strong enough story idea presents itself. If another movie does happen, Winston will almost certainly be returning, and the story could lean more into the dynamic between Reeves and McShane’s characters. Even though there’s a paternal element to the relationship, Winston shooting John in the third film affirms that shifting tides could still see the two characters aligned against each other if they return.
McShane and Reeves will both feature briefly in From The World of John Wick: Ballerina, a spinoff movie that takes places between the third and fourth films.
Our Take On Iwanyk’s Winston Explanation
Winston’s John Wick 3 Decision Reinforces The Franchise’s World
The John Wick 3 ending seemingly tees up a story for the fourth film in which John seeks revenge. Interestingly, however, Chapter 4 goes in another direction, with Wick instead choosing to take down the entire High Table. Throughout the fourth film, John and Winston remain friendly, and this suggests that John understands why Winston sH๏τ him and doesn’t blame him for doing so. In fact, it’s likely John would have done the same thing had he been in Winston’s shoes.
This is a franchise where characters can turn on each other in an instant, and this keeps the tension high.
The John Wick movies are acclaimed for their action set pieces and not so much for their character arcs and emotion, but Winston shooting John, and John subsequently forgiving him, is an effective and efficient way to establish the world of the story. This is a franchise where characters can turn on each other in an instant, and this keeps the tension high. It remains to be seen whether another movie will happen, but the John Wick 3 – Parabellum ending remains one of the franchise’s more shocking moments.
Source: The Direct
