John Wick might be thought dead following the action-packed events of John Wick: Chapter 4 but that isn’t stopping Lionsgate and creators from returning to the world of assassins. Recently, the co-creator of the franchise, Chad Stahelski, celebrated John’s tenth anniversary while dropping big news about future projects in the universe. Alongside confirming that a television series and a spin-off film series were in the works, Stahelski also confirmed that Mr. Wick was making the leap to the anime world. While there are many questions surrounding the John Wick anime movie, the co-creator of the franchise broke down how involved Reeves himself will be in the project.
For those who might not have heard the news about the John Wick anime, the film is looking to explore a time in John’s life that was talked about in the four movies but never revealed. In order to live a more mundane with his wife, John took on an “impossible task” that would give him the chance to leave his assassin duties behind him. The upcoming anime movie is looking to explore said task, exploring how John was able to pull it off and earn a quieter life for a brief amount of time.
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Keanu Reeves’ Anime Arrival
Chad Stahelski recently spoke with The Hollywood Reporter to celebrate John Wick’s tenth anniversary, stating how involved Reeves remains in the franchise’s future, “So we all decided, “Okay, well let’s just have it go through me as a stop-gate.” We have three new things coming up: an anime feature, a TV show, a new spinoff [Donnie Yen’s Caine]. So Keanu and I are still very active on all that, and we didn’t want to get so big that we lost sight of what really makes John Wick, John Wick. So whether it’s the pinball machine or the anime feature film or the new TV show that we’re working on, at least it still comes through us. Every time I get something on my desk, the first person I call is Keanu.”
Stahelski also pointed out during the interview how plenty of cooks are in the kitchen, as all the creators involved are looking to steer the John Wick franchise in the right direction: “It’s a way to protect ourselves. To be completely f***ing arrogant for a second, we didn’t just work the last ten years to see it all go to s**t.”
Keanu Reeves Other Anime
Mr. Wick’s anime adventure isn’t the only place that you’ll be able to see Keanu Reeves arrive on the anime scene. Netflix confirmed earlier this year that they would be adapting Reeves’ comic book, BRZRKER, into an anime adaptation. Luckily, the future anime project has a major studio backing it up in Production I.G., who this year alone has been responsible for the likes of Kaiju No. 8, Haikyu: The Dumpster Battle, and Terminator Zero. While the original series might have plenty of carnage to match John Wick’s story, BRZRKER is far different from the tale of the revenge-seeking assassin.
In terms of John Wick’s live-action future, it remains to be seen whether Keanu Reeves will rise from the dead for the already confirmed Chapter 5. During the THR interview, Stahelski discussed the upcoming sequel while confirming that they would respect Chapter 4’s finale, “The honest truth is you don’t [top John Wick: Chapter 4]. You simply don’t. There’s no topping what we did. That’s the end. That’s the deal. That’s what we found closure for. Look, sometimes, we’ll keep things in development. Sometimes, we’ll use development as an exercise, but is there an opportunity to do [John Wick 5]? Of course, there is, whether it’s for money or for creativity,”
Finally, the John Wick co-creator explained how they can go to new lengths when it comes to the upcoming anime feature thanks to the strengths of the medium, “To keep churning out episodes of John Wick’s adventures seems a little false to us, but to explore different aspects of the world and different aspects of John Wick before the films and through a different medium, whether it’s anime or TV, that feels fun. We can be a little bit more crazy and nutty in the anime, and we can be a lot more explicit in our storytelling and world building on the TV show. So those are exciting to us without seeming repetitive, and that’s where we’re putting our energies right now.”
Want to see what the future holds for John Wick’s anime? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on Keanu Reeves’ anime adventures and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.
