Full spoilers comply with for John Wick 4.
John Wick is again! Well, type of. You see, the primary trailer for Ballerina, the subsequent spin-off undertaking set within the John Wick universe, will see Keanu Reeves’ iconic hitman make a shock return to the large display.
Confused? Don’t be. I’ll clarify extra about how and why everybody’s favourite gun-fu grasp will characteristic within the forthcoming Ana de Armas-led motion movie later. Hey, this is not a film centered on Wick himself, so why enable him to steal the highlight on this article?
Anyway – sure, the primary trailer for Ballerina: From the World of John Wick is right here, and it seems to be each bit as thrilling, action-packed, and dramatically character-driven because the franchise’s first 4 movies. You can try the inaugural teaser for considered one of subsequent 12 months’s new films – it is set to debut in theaters on June 6, 2025 – under:
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I can not converse for everybody, but it surely seems to be very spectacular from the place I’m sitting. Indeed, I used to be fairly upset that we did not see extra of de Armas taking names and kicking ass in 2021’s No Time to Die, aka the ultimate time Daniel Craig inhabited the function of legendary spy James Bond, or in The Gray Man on Netflix. I did not watch the Cuban-Spanish actress beat up guys left, proper, and middle in Apple TV Plus’ maligned Ghosted film, both, as a result of I heard it wasn’t excellent. So, I’m desperate to see de Armas show she’s obtained the mettle to ship the products as the principle attraction in an motion flick.
But sufficient of my fawning – what’s Ballerina about? Here’s a quick plot synopsis, courtesy of a Lionsgate press launch: “Taking place in the course of the occasions of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, the movie follows Eve Macarro (de Armas) who’s starting her coaching within the murderer traditions of the Ruska Roma.”
Not rather a lot to go on, then, however the trailer suggests Macarro will embark on her personal revenge-fuelled mission to trace down those that murdered her household. She says as a lot within the film’s first teaser, so anticipate numerous bone-breaking, bullet-laced, and improvised motion all through.
How is John Wick alive in Ballerina?
Okay, so again to the query on everybody’s lips: what’s Wick doing in Ballerina? After all, the ultimate moments of John Wick: Chapter 4 implied that the titular hitman died after his tear-jerking and suspense-filled duel with Donnie Yen’s Caine.
The brief reply is that Ballerina is a pre-sequel. As Lionsgate’s story transient reveals, its narrative runs concurrent to the one depicted in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. Obvious as it’s to say, however Wick remains to be alive and kicking at this level on the John Wick timeline, which is why he is in a position to make a cameo look within the de Armas-fronted spin-off movie.
Reeves’ Wick is not the one fan-favorite character we’ll see once more in Ballerina. The late Lance Reddick, who handed away in March 2023, will even make his closing big-screen look as Charon, the concierge of the New York department of worldwide hitman safehouses often called collectively as The Continental. Ian McShane’s Winstone, who manages The Continental New York, can also be returning for this spin-off flick. Joining de Armas and the aforementioned trio in Ballerina are Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Catalina Sandino Moreno, and Norman Reedus.
Ballerina is the primary John Wick movie offshoot we’ll see, but it surely is not the franchise’s first spin-off. Indeed, that was The Continental, a three-part miniseries that debuted on Peacock (US) and Prime Video (internationally) in late 2023.
Unfortunately, The Continental: From the World of John Wick wasn’t as nice as I’d hoped. You can learn extra about why that is the case in my overview of The Continental, or see how the prequel present tried to do one thing completely different by buying and selling in John Wick’s signature gun-fu for expressive “disco noir”.
