The ending of John Wick: Chapter 4 left viewers in shock and Keanu Reeves explained why the franchise went in the said direction
*John Wick: Chapter 4 spoilers ahead*
The ending of John Wick: Chapter 4 served as a major shock to its viewers following rave reviews of the movie.
For the unversed, Wick eventually succeeds in his high-octane battle against archnemesis Marquis Vincent de Gramont but is fatally injured in the process having taken multiple gunshots.
Towards what appears to be his final moments Wick mutters his dead wife’s name "Helen", who had died in the 2014 John Wick movie.
Wick is seen seemingly dead and in the film’s final scene Winston looks over the dead hitman's grave.
This ending left onlookers in awe and during its premiere at the South by Southwest Film & TV Festival and a fan was not shy to ask John Wick 4director Chad Stahelski as well as Keanu Reeves about the decision to go for this particular ending.
"We had the opportunity [to do another film] because the audience [response to] Chapter Three, and we were like, 'What was the Why?'" Reeves said, referring to the essential question of Chapter 4's existence.
"And when Chad and I was talking, the Why? was death – and it was John Wick’s death. For him to get his peace, or freedom, in a way … that was the reason to make the movie. It can’t just be, 'Let’s do another one.' It was really about death, or a way of dying. We were really inspired by the Hagakure…"
As per Stahelski, The Hagakure is a Japanese ethics code and a book called Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai detailed the teachings as "a practical and spiritual guide for a warrior."
"We kind of took the way of dying – or the way we live well to die well – as the theme," Stahelski said.
When a question was asked to Reeves about his favourite scene in the movie, the actor specifically mentioned Wick's final moment as he teetered on the brink death.
"If I just looked at from [the perspective of] John – John Wick – maybe him at the end on the stairs," he said.
"When he says 'Helen'. That, for me, after like eight years of playing the role and after shooting the [massive fight on the other set of stairs], that part that was [a poignant link] to the past."
Though at face value is seemed that the Baba Yaga was in fact dead the final moments of John Wick 4 leave enough room to give filmmakers the chance to bring Wick back via a faked death scenario as the character was not blatantly shown dead.
Therefore, a chance for John Wick 5could very well be possible.