Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Ballerina!

2025’s Ballerina movie has introduced Eve to the John Wick franchise, and while the film is clearly setting her up as the replacement for John Wick’s тιтular character, many fans are asking if she should be. Despite John Wick 5 already being in development, Keanu Reeves’ character died at the end of John Wick: Chapter 4, making the future of the franchise uncertain. Unless there is some sort of supernatural intervention, a replacement for John Wick will have to be introduced in John Wick 5, and Ballerina has just set Eve up as the franchise’s best option.

Ballerina stars Ana de Armas as Eve Macarro, a Ruska Roma ballerina and ᴀssᴀssin who is sent on various missions within the ᴅᴇᴀᴅly world of John Wick. After years of training from the Ruska Roma, Eve goes rogue, with her deciding to wipe out the organization that killed her father 12 years prior to the events of the film. Ballerina takes place between the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum and John Wick: Chapter 4, meaning that Eve has several encounters with the Keanu Reeves character throughout the film before his death.

Ballerina Sets Up Eve To Be The Next John Wick

After John Wick’s Shocking Death

Although Ballerina is a spin-off movie, the film clearly sets Eve up to be the next John Wick. Both characters have incredibly similar origin stories and motivations, with them deciding to go against the world of ᴀssᴀssins after someone they love is killed. In John Wick’s case, it is a dog, whereas in Eve’s case, it is her father. Both ᴀssᴀssins have the world turn against them while they are on their quests for revenge, with them having to survive countless ᴀssailants and an increasingly large bounty on their heads.

Eve and John both have similar histories with the Ruska Roma as well. Like John Wick, Eve was taken in by the Ruska Roma despite being an outsider, with them training her for many years. She became one of the family’s most promising pupils, with her getting sent on more and more jobs as the years went by. However, she eventually grew tired of the constant tests, with her looking for a way out. During her quest for revenge, she made an enemy out of the Ruska Roma, with this entire storyline being a perfect parallel of John Wick’s history.

The connection between Eve and John Wick isn’t subtle at all, with Ballerina making things even more obvious by having the two characters meet. In their first encounter, John notices that Eve is questioning her time in the Ruska Roma, with him advising her to leave. When they meet again near the end of Ballerina, John continues to push Eve away from the Ruska Roma, seeing better in her. So, it isn’t just the audience seeing the connection between John’s backstory and Eve’s arc, as Keanu Reeves’ character is seeing it too.

Ballerina Proves Ana De Armas Is Up For The Challenge Of Replacing Keanu Reeves

She Is Similar, But Not A Copy

Ana de Armas has just been introduced to the John Wick franchise in Ballerina, but the film has already proven that she is up for the challenge of replacing Keanu Reeves. Ana de Armas proves that she can handle the demanding action of the franchise, with her excelling throughout the film. It is clear that she rarely uses a stunt double, as her face is visible in many of Ballerina‘s most intense action scenes. Keanu Reeves’ stunt work is one of the most impressive parts of the John Wick franchise, and Ana de Armas has proven that she is a worthy successor.

However, Ana de Armas’ Eve is distinct enough that she offers something new to the franchise. Eve’s fighting style is very different from John Wick’s, as is seen in the film. Eve is much better at gracefully stalking enemies from the shadows and picking them off, while John Wick is more of a tank who goes in with a bulletproof suit and guns blazing. This is seen near the end of Ballerina, in the scenes where Eve and John Wick fight together. So, while Ana de Armas brings the action that makes the franchise so great, she also adds her own unique twist to the formula.

Is Eve The Best John Wick Replacement In The Franchise?

Or Did John Wick 4 Introduce A Better One?

For the franchise to continue, John Wick has to be replaced, and Eve might be the best option. John Wick: Chapter 4 introduced several strong contenders for this slot, with Caine, Akira, and Mr. Nobody being exciting new additions to the franchise. While these would all be interesting picks, they were just side characters in the fourth film. Thus, they haven’t proven that they can hold up their own movie. On top of that, they are all very different from John Wick, whereas Eve is an incredibly similar replacement.

It would take some serious fleshing out for any other John Wick character to replace the тιтular ᴀssᴀssin. Luckily, Eve has already accomplished this. She has proven that she is similar enough to John Wick without being a complete copy and that she can hold up her own movie. She is the only logical replacement in the wake of Ballerina‘s release, as it would be strange to pick a side character over someone who has been the focus of her own spinoff movie.

Eve’s Future Is Exciting Regardless Of Whether She Replaces John Wick

Thanks To Ballerina’s Ending

Whether or not Eve replaces John Wick, her future within the franchise is exciting. A potential Ballerina 2 could be just as interesting as Eve starring in John Wick 5, continuing her story from the first film. Most viewers agree that each John Wick film improves upon the last, and if this is the case with Ballerina, then it means that there may be even greater things to come in the future.

At the end of Ballerina, Eve has her bounty raised, with many ᴀssᴀssins taking an interest in hunting her down. This puts Eve in the same place that John Wick was at the beginning of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, creating a similar yet equally intriguing story for her. Eve’s attire and atтιтude prove that she has fully taken on the John Wick persona at the end of Ballerina, and I hope to see her continue to do this in the future.