The John Wick franchise would do well to strip out the convoluted lore of the series moving forward. The John Wick movies are responsible for two key things. One, they brought Keanu Reeves out of a career slump and made him a true action icon, and they reinvented the genre itself.
The amount of John Wick rip-offs that followed in the wake of the original is staggering, ranging from Nobody to Netflix’s Extraction. Despite planning to retire the character after John Wick: Chapter 4’s ending, the sheer success of the franchise means Reeves can’t put the ᴀssᴀssin to rest just yet.
Reeves had an extended cameo in the spinoff Ballerina, and there are plans for a John Wick 5 and an animated prequel. It seems after the events of Chapter 4, John will be free of the High Table and its rules, and in general, the next adventure should give Wick a clean slate.
John Wick Has Expanded Its Lore To A Fault
One of the best things about the original John Wick was its worldbuilding. It beautifully established this glamorous criminal underworld with its mysterious codes (what is the value of a gold coin anyway?). Still, much of this lore was left ambiguous, and it never distracted from the central revenge plot.
Chapter 2 opened up the world even further, adding key elements like the High Table itself and blood oath markers. Still, the sequel maintained a certain secrecy around the inner workings of this stuff, but by the time Chapters 3 and 4 arrived, the series started to drown in convoluted rules.
The third film was particularly guilty of this, ᴀssuming audiences wanted to pull back the curtain on the High Table and its rulebook. Ballerina introduced even more mythology to the saga, and it’s gotten to the point where it’s unwieldy and, honestly, kind of boring.
John Wick 1 & 2 Are More Rewatchable Than The Last Two
The first two John Wicks are perfect little engines. They exist to give Reeves a showcase for all the things he does best while staging great action setpieces. The mythology behind the Continental H๏τels or the High Table was icing on the cake, posing more questions than answers.
It’s this simplicity that makes the first two Wicks so endlessly rewatchable. In comparison, Chapters 3 and 4 feel positively overstuffed. They double down on the amount of action and rules. That’s not a major problem since the action is always excellent, but moments like the Sofia (Halle Berry) and Wick shootout could benefit from a trim.
It’s a sign of how popular the saga became that the most recent entries became bigger and bolder. Viewers wanted more of the Wick universe, and director Chad Stahelski was only happy to oblige. Chapter 4 might just have the best setpieces of the entire series too.
The first John Wick was co-directed by Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, but the latter didn’t return to helm any of the sequels.
Still, John Wick 3 and 4 lack the lean, mean energy of the first two. The fifth film needs to pare back and focus on a simple setup that’s unencumbered by all the worldbuilding and mythology that followed.
The John Wick Spin-Offs Have Been Disappointing
In the same way nobody wants to see a James Bond adventure without 007, it would be weird to have a John Wick film without Reeves involved. The franchise was literally built around him, though realistically, there’s only so much more physical punishment the 60-plus Reeves can take.
That’s why a couple of John Wick spinoffs have been attempted, though neither quite hit the mark. The Continental miniseries had a solid premise, but without the involvement of any key Wick creatives, this TV prequel was a pale shadow. It lacked the wit and invention of its big screen cousins, and the action was largely forgettable.
Ballerina was way better, and even featured a timeline-breaking appearance by Wick. Still, reviews were mixed and the box office was disappointing, so a direct sequel is doubtful. There’s still an appeтιтe for John Wick 5, though the series may not have much of a future beyond that.
John Wick 5 Should Scale Things Back A Bit
Speaking with Empire in May 2025, Stahelski revealed John Wick 5 would be a fresh start – ᴀssuming it gets made. He’s planning not to include the High Table and Wick’s grief over his wife’s death has been wrapped up. It also sounds like Stahelski wants to trim the series back to basics.
This is an encouraging sign, since going bigger and bolder like Chapter 4 would be a mistake. The fourth film would have served as a satisfying finale in itself, but it’s hard to picture the franchise raising the bar again in terms of setpieces or lore.
Maybe the next story could find Wick as a kind of modern-day ronin, wandering the Earth and doing good deeds. It would be nice to see a return to the simplicity of the original, without another deep dive into the franchise’s shadowy underworld.
Stahelski has mostly shown good taste in steering the John Wick series so far, and his Empire statement suggests he knows a new beginning is necessary. Despite his apparent death, Wick’s future is looking bright, so let’s hope the High Table don’t rear their heads next time.
Source: Empire
