Here's How Keanu Reeves' John Wick Figures Into Ballerina (For Better And Worse)

The first story set in the "John Wick" universe not centered around the Baba Yaga has fired off a full clip — and you know what? It's not bad, thanks to its great action scenes. Ana de Armas owns the role of Eve in "Ballerina," leading another tale of vengeance wrapped in guns, grenades, and excessive pyrotechnics.

But as already revealed in the trailer, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) does drop by to fire off a bullet or ten. How, though? Last time we saw Mr. Wick, he suffered a fatal shot in a duel to the death at the end of "John Wick: Chapter 4," so how is he up and about in this latest installment? Well, it's because we're starting a fresh chapter in Eve's story, and in the case of Wick (real name: Jardani Jovonovich), rewinding to when he was forced to request his ticket be torn to continue his mission of being left the hell alone. Here, he's forced to kill a few people on the side and form an uneasy alliance with an assassin-in-the-making to get the job done.

While figuring out when Eve crosses paths with John does make for a great bit of world-building, it also has us paying closer attention to their second meet that ends in a showdown, revealing that John Wick really is the busiest assassin under the High Table, with a totally jam-packed schedule.

Eve encounters the legendary John Wick on two separate occasions, the first occurring during a crucial moment in "John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum." Retconning John's visit to The Director (Angelica Huston), we learn that Eve is the devoted ballerina who slips on her own blood while continuing to dance for the head of the Ruska Roma leader, as originally depicted in the 2019 threequel. Once she finishes her routine, Eve heads to her dorm, where whispers spread through the halls about John Wick being in the building. Catching a glimpse of the Baba Yaga, Eve later listens outside The Director's office as John gets his ticket torn, leading to the brutal branding of his tattoo that severs his ties with the group.

In a brief conversation with the outcast, Eve asks John how to escape this world. He advises that the front door is always open; she just has to walk through it. However, Wick finds this task challenging himself, assuring Eve that he's "working on it." It's easier said than done for Eve, too: The Director warns her model student against going after the Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne), the leader of the cult that killed her father, but he's the target she's trained her entire life to eliminate. Naturally, Eve embarks on her mission, disregarding her orders and leading her to come face to face with John Wick again, in a much more dangerous manner.

The fact that Keanu Reeves' appearance in "Ballerina" is more than just a simple cameo highlights how serious the filmmakers are about establishing Ana de Armas as a significant figure in the Wick-verse mythology. After their first meeting, the two characters speak again under far more intense circumstances. After Eve heads to Prague and jeopardizes an age-old pact between the Ruska Roma and The Chancellor's cult-like tribe, The Director calls in a favor from John Wick, tasking him with eliminating Eve before she can cause any more damage. After a brief skirmish, this worn-down hitman with a heart discovers Eve's agenda and grants her some time to complete her mission, even going as far as to save her life later on (a moment that feels a little eyeroll-inducing after all the amazing things we've seen Eve achieve in this film, but I guess the idea is that Wick is the ultimate legendary figure even among legends).

It's worth noting that during this heated meet (probably due to the flamethrowers), John is missing a finger, adding a bit of clarity to where we are in the timeline. Given the condition of his missing digit, it's safe to think this occurs after John's trip to Casablanca to meet The Elder (Saïd Taghmaoui) and likely before the events of "John Wick: Chapter 4," given how well it's healed. Despite some people believing John was dead after the end of "Parabellum," somehow, The Director knows he's alive and calls in this favor, which I suppose is meant to indicate that she's an even more powerful and intelligent player in this game than we previously suspected. 

From there, Eve and John go their separate ways, on the run from a world from which they can't break free. Rules and consequences, right?