THE JOHN WICK franchise is going strong. Now spanning five movies and a TV series (and counting), it’s clear that this is not only a violent, unique, and action-packed world, but one with just about endless possibilities. In fact, the latest film, From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (or, as we’ll refer to it to avoid that clunky title, Ballerina) is proof that the franchise can explore new ground and succeed even without the titular Mr. Wick himself. Sure, Keanu Reeves is in the movie, but the main character is Ana de Armas’s Eve—and watching her kick ass in a Wick-esque manner should fill any Keanu-size holes in your heart in the meantime.
It’s clear that the Wick franchise will continue from here—it’s just unknown in what direction. This is a series and brand that’s now been making Lionsgate lots of money for over a decade, and with multiple recognizable stars in the fold, there are a bunch of ways things could go. For example, we know that we could do another John Wick movie, and now it seems more than possible that we could do another Ballerina movie. But there’s also a spinoff film coming on the John Wick: Chapter 4 character Caine, played by Donnie Yen, which will also star Rina Sawayama’s Akira (Yen will also direct).
We’ve already gone down the road of a prequel; the little-watched limited series The Continental focused on the exploits of a younger Winston (Ian McShane). So that’s probably not a road that will particularly be gone down, though Wick director Chad Stahelski and McShane don’t think particularly highly of it. So maybe don’t rule out some kind of re-do.
Again: the possibilities do feel kind of endless. But we know the primary question that everyone is going to be asking after Ballerina—will we be getting John Wick 5? And at this time we do seem to have a pretty definitive answer.
Where is Ballerina set in the John Wick timeline?
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina is set between the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum and John Wick: Chapter 4. It picks up the character of “The Director,” played by Angelica Huston, who was introduced in Chapter 3, and, perhaps most notably, includes Keanu Reeves as played by John Wick. This is the key part of the equation, considering John Wick dies at the end of Chapter 4.
That would seem to signify a closed book, right? But as we’ve established, the possibilities in this world are pretty endless.
Will there be a John Wick 5?
Most likely. Despite the titular character’s death at the end of John Wick: Chapter 4, Lionsgate officially announced that John Wick 5 was in the works at this year’s CinemaCon back in April.
That being said, director Chad Stahelski is still a little apprehensive that the film will actually get made—because he wants to make sure it’s as good as it can possibly be.
“Look, everybody seems to want it,” he said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s a matter of whether we crack it. We’re actively working on it. It’s just … is it going to be satisfying?”
Throughout the conversation Stahelski repeatedly suggested that while they’re early in the process on John Wick 5, it’s still just that—early in the process. And that he hasn’t even officially brought the idea to Reeves yet. Stahelski is meticulous, and holds himself to a high standard. And so he doesn’t want to proceed with something until it’s actually ready to proceed.
“If we go down the road of John Wick 5 and build this story and decide this isn’t right, there are probably going to be 10 other things we’ll discover that we’ll use for other things,” he says.
Which implies it still could not happen. But, he says, sooner or later, it probably will.
“The studio would very much will it into existence, I’m sure, at some point,” he says. “Look, they’ve been great and they’ve asked us to really try and we have a really good couple of ideas and we’re going to try.”
But still, they are very early on. And it seems like for now the Caine spinoff, which has Donnie Yen attached to star and direct, Rina Sawayama attached to reprise her Akira character, and Mattson Tomlin attached to write, is much further along in production, and will certainly come first.
Will Ana de Armas and Ballerina cross over with John Wick 5?
Now that much truly remains to be seen. But it would feel like kind of a missed opportunity if it didn’t, right? Keanu Reeves and Ana de Armas are both bona fide movie stars, and scenes between the two of them are action magic.
Let’s say Wick 5 opens up with John Wick fighting his way up from hell. Might be a little tricky for him to meet up with Eve down there, but once he gets back to the surface, it feels like a pretty good bet that we’ll see these two together (and with guns at each other’s throats) again.
Buy Ballerina Tickets Here
Stream the John Wick Films Here
Evan is the culture editor for Men’s Health, with bylines in The New York Times, MTV News, Brooklyn Magazine, and VICE. He loves weird movies, watches too much TV, and listens to music more often than he doesn’t.
