The only reason why anyone would be completely convinced that the title hero really did end up biting the dust at the end of John Wick: Chapter 4 is because Keanu Reeves turns 60 next year, which is quite frankly a ridiculous age to be putting yourself through the wringer to the extent the action action has given his all to the franchise.
Fake-out deaths have been a black mark against IP-driven cinema for as long as anyone could remember, and the infuriating addendum to the iconic hitman’s latest excursion was only made all the more nauseating when Lionsgate announced mere days after Chapter 4 had annihilated the box office in its opening weekend that Chapter 5 was very much back on the table.
There’s also going to be spin-offs aplenty, but anyone with half a brain could have told you there was always going to be a huge demand to see Reeves return for at least one more adventure, something producer Erica Lee was fully aware of after she effectively rendered your emotional investment worthless when admitting there’s highly likely to be another direct sequel to SlashFilm.
“For the last two movies — there’s been a Japan release for both of them that was a couple months later — everyone has had some time to rest and think about what we would do, what we could do. I think we all remember how much we love each other and love these movies. So yeah, I’m hopeful. Is the character of John Wick dead? Are there other versions? Are there different stories to tell? I think so.”
At this point, the only way to make things truly definitive is for John Wick to have his head blown clean off his shoulders in full view of the audience, because that’s about the one thing that’s going to make it abundantly clear that he won’t be back.