John Wick 5 Looks Even More Complicated To Pull Off Now (2024)

The John Wick franchise keeps announcing new spinoffs – like the upcoming Under the High Table series – and they’re burning through all the best premises for John Wick: Chapter 5. After the blockbuster success of John Wick: Chapter 4, Lionsgate was going to continue the saga one way or another. John Wick: Chapter 4 ended with Wick making the ultimate sacrifice to win a climactic duel against the tyrannical Marquis de Gramont and free the High Table from his rule. But Lionsgate won’t let Wick die until he stops making them money, so John Wick: Chapter 5 is in development.

But the problem is that Lionsgate is burning through all the best premises for John Wick: Chapter 5 with its incessant spinoffs. John Wick is already a cinematic universe, with a spinoff movie named Ballerina lined up for a 2025 release and The Continental: From the World of John Wick streaming on Peaco*ck. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg; Lionsgate is working on other John Wick spinoffs to follow up John Wick: Chapter 4. But they’re going through the film’s sequel setups so quickly, there won’t be any stories left for John Wick: Chapter 5 to tell.

John Wick's New Spinoffs Are Telling Stories That Would Work For John Wick 5

From Caine to the High Table, all the best story setups are gone

The post-credits scene of John Wick: Chapter 4 saw Donnie Yen’s Caine, now free of his obligations to the High Table, returning to Paris to reunite with his daughter. However, when he got there, he was ominously approached by a knife-wielding Akira seeking revenge for her father’s death. After Yen expressed interest in starring in a Caine spinoff film, such a spinoff was announced. It’ll begin filming in Hong Kong in 2025 and it’ll follow up on this post-credits stinger. But now, that means John Wick: Chapter 5 can’t follow up on that thread.

Now, it’s been announced that Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski are producing a John Wick TV series named John Wick: Under the High Table that will act as a direct sequel to John Wick: Chapter 4. It’ll explore the immediate aftermath of the Marquis’ death and the power vacuum that remains within the High Table organization. That’s another story that could’ve been used in the next chapter of the mainline John Wick saga. If Lionsgate isn’t careful and keeps announcing more and more spinoffs, there won’t be any story left to tell in John Wick: Chapter 5.

John Wick 4's Ending Already Made John Wick 5 Difficult To Get Right

It'll be tough to pull off Keanu Reeves' return after Wick's supposed death

Whether spinoffs were taking all of its best storytelling opportunities or not, John Wick: Chapter 4 had already made it very tricky for John Wick: Chapter 5 to come to fruition. Explaining Reeves’ return alone will be difficult for the franchise to get right. If it reveals that Wick didn’t really die, then it’ll undermine the weight of his sacrifice and the finality of his journey in Chapter 4. And if it goes back to tell a prequel story wedged in between previous movies, it’ll feel pointless and predictable.

And now, that’s the least of John Wick: Chapter 5’s problems. Now, there are a bunch of other factors to consider. Caine’s fate can’t be ignored in Chapter 5, since he was such an integral part of Chapter 4, and Chapter 5 can’t ignore the High Table, either, because killing its leader and liberating its members was the biggest plot point in Chapter 4. But since both of those stories are being handled by spinoffs, Chapter 5 doesn’t really have anywhere to go.

John Wick 5 Must Build On The New Spinoffs To Tell A Great Story

The Wick Cinematic Universe can't be ignored

Perhaps the only way to make John Wick: Chapter 5 work is to ignore all the spinoffs, leave the wider universe be, and just tell a gonzo standalone story about Wick’s soul fighting his way through the nine circles of Hell. But it seems unlikely that this franchise will go into the afterlife, especially since that would mean it really has to let Reeves go. And if it doesn’t go to Hell, then John Wick: Chapter 5 can’t avoid addressing the stories being told in the spinoffs. Instead, it should embrace the spinoffs and build on their plot developments.

Since John Wick: Chapter 5 can’t ignore Caine’s future or the fate of the High Table, it’ll have to build on the spinoffs, not ignore them. Maybe Caine’s journey in his spinoff will lead him right back to Wick. Maybe whoever replaces the Marquis as the de facto leader of the High Table will decide that Wick needs to pay and send the goon squad after him all over again. Whatever happens in the John Wick spinoffs, the fifth entry in the mainline series needs to embrace it.

John Wick

Created by

Derek Kolstad

First Film

John Wick

Cast

Keanu Reeves , Ian McShane , Lance Reddick , Willem Dafoe , Michael Nyqvist , Alfie Allen , Laurence Fishburne , Anjelica Huston , Bill Skarsgard , Mel Gibson , Donnie Yen