The John Wick universe is still expanding, and the upcoming Caine John Wick spinoff could be the franchise’s most unique story yet. John Wick started as a simple concept: Keanu Reeves starred as Mr. Wick, a retired professional ᴀssᴀssin who returns to the world he left behind after thugs kill his dog and steal his car. While revenge stories had been done before, what made John Wick stand out was its rich world of ᴀssᴀssins. There are dozens of different factions that operate around the globe, while still following rules established by leaders of this dangerous community.
Each John Wick film builds upon this, introducing new rules and characters who add to the lore of this series and Wick’s backstory. Two spinoffs have already been made: The Continental and Ballerina. The Continental explores how Ian McShane’s Winston became the leader of New York’s Continental H๏τel while Ballerina introduces a new character from the Ruska Roma, the ballet criminal group from John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. The next spinoff, Caine, will focus on Donnie Yen’s character from John Wick: Chapter 4 and could flip a storyline that’s common within this franchise.
John Wick Movies Have Mostly Been Revenge Stories
Including From The World Of John Wick: Ballerina
It’s essentially become a joke regarding how the John Wick films started. While he completes his revenge quest for his dog in the first film, it turns into a four-film killing spree, leading to hundreds of ᴅᴇᴀᴅ ᴀssᴀssins who dared to challenge Mr. Wick. The first film is a simple revenge story, but most of the other films are centered around Wick’s vengeance. In the second outing, John gets revenge on Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio), who betrays John after calling in a debt. This leads to John becoming excommunicado, setting up the third film.
In John Wick: Chapter 4, John seeks vengeance against the High Table, who refuse to leave him and his friends alone. Each film focuses on John achieving revenge or facing the consequences of his actions. The latest film, Ballerina, introduces Eve (Ana de Armas), who is also on a path of revenge to hunt down the cult who killed her father. She is successful, but her actions put her on a similar journey. While Eve is different from John in several ways, the franchise could use a fresh narrative to shake things up.
Caine’s Spinoff Movie Could Reverse The John Wick Franchise’s Revenge Storyline
Caine Would Be Someone Else’s Target
Donnie Yen’s Caine steals the show in John Wick 4. He’s a blind yet ᴅᴇᴀᴅly ᴀssᴀssin and martial artist who is retired but is coerced into hunting and killing John after The Marquis (Bill Skarsgård) threatens his daughter. Fortunately, John and Donnie manage to trick The Marquis during their duel, killing him and freeing Caine from his control. However, during his mission, Caine kills Koji (Hiroyuki Sanada), the manager of the Osaka Continental H๏τel. In John Wick 4‘s post-credit scene, Koji’s daughter, Akira (Rina Sawayama), approaches Caine with a knife as he waits for his own daughter.
The plot of Caine’s spinoff isn’t confirmed as it’s still early in its development, but it has an opportunity to reverse the revenge storyline. The narrative will focus on Caine, who is trying to avoid someone else’s vengeance, rather than seek it himself. Since Akira is confirmed to appear in the spinoff film, there’s a good chance that the story will be about Caine trying to avoid her. It’s doubtful that Akira will kill Caine at the beginning of the movie, setting up an intriguing dynamic between the two characters.
Caine Flipping John Wick & Ballerina’s Revenge Story Would Be Smart
The Next John Wick Spinoff Needs A Fresh Story
The John Wick franchise isn’t necessarily popular because of its great narratives. The stories are adequate backdrops for John and the other ᴀssᴀssins to fight each other in endlessly creative ways. The series continues to reinvent the wheel with its high-octane action sequences, but not with its stories. Thus, it’s time for the franchise to switch things up, and Caine provides an opportunity for the series to tell a new story about the cycle of revenge.
Making Caine the prey rather than the predator would be an interesting twist to the series, opening up some different thematic routes.
The revenge arc is getting tiring, especially after Ballerina relied on it as well. Making Caine the prey rather than the predator would be an interesting twist to the series, opening up some different thematic routes. Additionally, John Wick 4 established Akira’s motivation for vengeance, meaning Caine can skip much of the setup that Ballerina and the first John Wick had. Caine has plenty of flexibility in its direction, and the series should take advantage of that.
