Does John Wick die in ‘John Wick: Chapter 4?’

Warning: the following article contains spoilers for John Wick: Chapter 4.

Ever since we were first introduced to the retired hitman grieving his dearly departed wife back in 2014’s John Wick, the Baba Yaga has been on a warpath, whether he wanted it or not. What started off as a quest for vengeance for his puppy’s life ended up being a globetrotting fight for survival, culminating in the climactic events of John Wick: Chapter 4.

A recurring theme, and foreboding warning throughout the four films, has been that if Wick continues to leave scores of bodies in his wake, the only way his story ends is in death. The High Table, after all, is a force to be reckoned with, and for one person to aim his sights further and further up its hierarchy effectively signs his death warrant, no matter how true their aim and how deadly their strikes. 

While the reason for Reeves’ character to continue fighting is laid bare in his meeting with The High Table’s Elder in Chapter 3, being so that his wife’s memory can live on through him, the havoc he causes and the road he travels along cannot end well, and Wick’s purpose may never come to be fulfilled. Will John Wick be free to peacefully live in reverence of his wife? For the second and final time, we’re getting spoiler heavy from here – so proceed at your own risk. Let’s dig in.

Does John Wick die in Chapter 4? 

Following his tense, and heart-wrenching duel with Caine, which ultimately resulted in the death of the Marquis, Wick is suffering from multiple gunshot wounds and is battered and beaten like he’s never been before, particularly following his arduous ascent up the steps to Sacré-Cœur. At long last, he is free of the High Table. He turns to Winston and cryptically asks if he can take him home, which he agrees to. 

John then walks away, sits down as the sun rises, and reminisces about his dearly departed wife Helen before collapsing. We then come back to New York, where Winston and the Bowery King are standing over the titular hero’s headstone, which reads “Loving Husband,” as he requested earlier in the film. Winston utters the phrase “Farewell, my son,” before he departs and the credits roll.  The whole “is Winston John’s dad” matter is a whole other can of worms, for another time.

At face value, it certainly appears that John Wick has finally met his demise, albeit as a free man, whose last thought was of his wife, who he now rests beside. However, as the staple “anime” trope goes, unless you see them stop breathing, there’s every chance they’ll be back. There’s all the more weight added to this hypothesis by the film’s writers, Shay Hatten and Michael Finch, who told Polygon that the ending is purposefully ambiguous.

Finch teases that “we never actually see him dying. We see a [grave] plot. What happened in between is up for interpretation.” Hatten then adds on that the ending is deliberately open-ended so that fans can make up their own minds about the franchise. What that audience reaction and interpretation ends up being, may well determine whether or not we end up seeing a John Wick 5. Until such a time, it’s up to you to decide whether the Baba Yaga drew his final breath, or not.