John Wick: Chapter 4's Ending Was Nearly A Lot Less Subtle
The ending of "John Wick: Chapter 4" is something we'll be talking about for quite some time. The only thing that may well put an end to that discussion (while starting a new one in the process) would be the arrival of "Chapter 5," which is at least being developed by Lionsgate. Whether or not it actually happens is another question entirely. If it happens, it would reshape the ending of the most recent entry as we know it, and it's a conclusion that both director Chad Stahelski and Keanu Reeves wanted. Though, there was a far less subtle ending shot and considered.
Speaking in the latest issue of Empire Magazine, Stahelski was asked about the ending, in which Reeves' legendary assassin certainly appears to die. We see the grave, but we don't see the body. "We shot an ending where you actually saw John Wick at the end of the movie," Stahelski explained. "It's very clear that he was still alive. The audiences we tested with absolutely preferred the ambiguous ending."
So they went with the ending as we know it. Speaking further, Stahelski said that he and Reeves conceived the ending very early on when they realized that "Chapter 3" would have been a poor send-off for the character.
"I said, 'I'd be pissed if that's how they ended the whole series. I'd be pissed at the director.' And I had just read this treatise on samurai etiquette called Hagakure, the art of the way of dying. And we're like, 'Yeah, he's got to die. And we got to come up with the coolest way to make this happen. We've got to make it all about, you can only have a good death if you had a good life.' That's the first line we wrote on a napkin in Japan, three years out. We wrote the movie backwards off that one thing."
The ending changed in more ways than one
The film's climax changed as well, aside from going with the more definitive death scene. Stahelski talked a bit about the final showdown between Donnie Yenn's Caine and Keeves' Wick. After Wick kills Bill Skarsgard's Marquis, few words are exchanged. But in the original script, the scene was a bit more chatty. Circumstance dictated a change of plan, though one that was ultimately for the better. The filmmaker explained:
"Donnie's character comes up to him at the end and says, 'Brother, thank you, I owe you, you owe me.' There was a little bit more dialogue written, but we were running out of time and I had to get the shot. And then Donnie and Keanu had been talking, and it felt weird to do so much talking. Donnie was like, 'I'm just gonna walk over to him and tell him, "Thanks,"' then Keanu's like, 'Why don't I just say, "You owe me?"' We literally stripped out pages of dialogue. And Donnie just said, 'Well, I'll do John Wick's thing of, 'Yeah.' It was so simple, so genius, and we just did it like that. Donnie doesn't even say the last line we had written. He just goes, 'Yeah,' and walks away."
John Wick was truly a man of few words, so it actually made sense for him to go out with an interaction that is light on dialogue but heavy with emotional weight. In the end, Stahelski was very happy with how it played it out.
"As a director, you're always thinking about, 'Are you gonna give a character a great send-off. Are you gonna give him his moment?' And for Keanu to say, 'Helen,' and to go sleep, and we'll let the audience decide what happens, that was pretty good. I think we did something good here."
Deserving of a good death
While the fate of "John Wick: Chapter 5" is a little up in the air, Lionsgate has every motivation to want to continue the story in some way, shape, or form, regardless of Wick's death. The movies have made more than $1 billion at the global box office against very reasonable budgets, with each entry making more than the last. But would Reeves or Stahelski be willing to walk back that ending they fought for? Maybe!
In the same interview, the director said that he very much likes the way the story ended. That having been said, there is an element of the "John Wick" films divorced from the reality we all live in. That could pave the way for a continuation. Here's how Stahelski explained it:
"As a storyteller, I liked the way it ended. I prefer tragedies. But John Wick's a campfire story anyways, right? We've never pretended in any way that it's a real-life, grounded story. So, did John die? Did John Wick die? Did one of those personas die? Did he have to clean the slate? Did he fool the High Table? Or did he actually pass? You know, we've seen John take worse injuries. To be really honest, I would say the persona of Wick had to die, so he could either escape or move on. That goes back to Dante."
In short, John Wick did die, or at least a part of him did. Whether or not he stays dead forever remains to be seen. In the meantime, fans have "The Continental" TV show to look forward to, which is making its way to Peacock later this year.
"John Wick: Chapter 4" is available now on Blu-ray and Digital.