Upcoming John Wick Prequel Risks Ruining One Of The Coolest Things About Keanu Reeves Character

The upcoming John Wick anime risks ruining a major part of Keanu Reeves’ eponymous assassin and the entire franchise as a whole. There are several planned John Wick spinoffs in the works, from Ana de Armas’ Ballerina to a show titled John Wick: Under the High Table. One of the upcoming spinoffs, the John Wick anime series, could easily ruin part of John’s character, even though he supposedly died at the end of John Wick: Chapter 4. There aren’t many confirmed details about the anime yet, but one such detail hinted that it will depict a very important moment in John’s life.




There’s a lot to love about the John Wick franchise and Keanu Reeves’ character. From his incredible fighting abilities to the franchise’s slick style, there’s a reason it has become one of the most dominant action genres in the past decade. Now, however, Keanu Reeves may not return as John, which puts the entire franchise in jeopardy. Reeves was the face of the entire franchise, and the upcoming spinoffs will have to prove that it can survive without him. That’s no easy task, but the John Wick anime may make it even harder to accomplish because of when it takes place.


John Wick Anime Revealing Wick’s Retirement Job Risks Ruining The Legend

By Showing John’s Impossible Task, The Anime Could Ruin His Mystique


Recently, the timeline of the John Wick anime was confirmed, and the show is set to be a prequel and depict the “impossible task” John had to do to get out of the assassin’s life. In the original John Wick movie, the film’s main antagonist Viggo Tarasov (Michael Nyqvist) explained that John had to complete an impossible mission before he would be allowed to retire and live a peaceful life with his wife. The John Wick anime and its placement in the John Wick timeline threatens to ruin that part of the assassin’s legendary backstory by taking away its mystery.

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One of the main reasons the franchise became so popular was because it presented only bits and pieces of the fascinating world of John Wick. It spurred discussions, theories, and ideas that have kept fans engaged for years, and made John Wick the action juggernaut it is. If the John Wick anime shows his impossible task, it would completely undermine the environmental world building that propelled the franchise to success. All the benefits of its gradual storytelling would be overwritten by the anime, and some of the franchise’s best moments would be undone as well.

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To illustrate why removing the mystique surrounding John’s backstory is such a bad idea, there are several moments in the John Wick franchise that were memorable precisely because they weren’t thoroughly explained. One of the best examples of this concept is Sofia, Halle Berry’s character in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. Over the course of the movie, Sofia revealed that John had helped save her daughter, but for some reason he had to hide her location from Sofia. It’s an intriguing piece of backstory for both Sofia and John, and it would be much less interesting if the franchise ever showed that moment on-screen.

The John Wick Anime Sounds Incredibly Exciting (Even If “Ruins” The Magic)

While It Will Take Away Some Mystery, More John Wick Is Never A Bad Thing

John Wick kills a guy with a pencil in John Wick.


Even though showing the details of John’s impossible task will strip away some of the mystique of his legend, the upcoming John Wick anime still sounds like an incredibly exciting show. Its animated format could let the show have even more intense fight scenes than even the live-action movies. Its prequel setting essentially means it will show a completely new version of John that has never been seen before, and more. The John Wick anime has so much potential to be one of the best John Wick spinoffs out there. Stripping away the assassin’s mystique might not be a death sentence, either, if it handles it carefully.

Even though showing the details of John’s impossible task will strip away some of the mystique of his legend, the upcoming John Wick anime still sounds like an incredibly exciting show.

A great example of how the John Wick anime could detail John’s impossible task without ruining it already happened in John Wick: Chapter 2. When Viggo was trying to convince Iosef (Alfie Allen) that he had made a grave mistake in the original John Wick, he told his son a story about John killing three men with a pencil. Then, in John Wick: Chapter 2, the film showed him killing two attackers with a pencil, effectively ruining the first movie’s “myth” about the assassin. That scene, however, was incredibly cool, and being able to show it on-screen was well worth dispelling some of John Wick‘s mystique.