John Wick Director Explains How Marvel’s Kevin Feige Helped With the World-Building

The John Wick films franchise has grown from a breakout cult-hit action film into an entire action film franchise universe. John Wick: Chapter 4 is a major pivotal point in the franchise; the fourth film truly opens the door to the larger franchise universe expansion to take place, with prequels, spinoffs, and a sequel all in various stages of development. With all of that new complexity, John Wick director Chad Stahelski needed help to get his head around how to transform his IP into an entire interconnected universe of films and TV shows. Who better to call for that kind of help than the Man who built the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Kevin Feige? 

“When I got to do John Wick, and we ended up trying to go the next step to John Wick 2 and John Wick 3, between 2 and 3 and then 3 and 4, I called his people and asked, ‘Hey, I know Kevin’s real busy. Would he mind a meeting?’” Stahelski revealed to Looper. “You could imagine how busy Kevin is, but both times, he sat me down and gave me a few hours of his time in both instances. He was like, ‘Okay, how can I help?’ I was like, ‘Look, man, I got this John Wick thing. Give me some advice. What’s the best way to handle this? Some people see this as a one-off. Some people see it as a cash grab.’”

Stahelski went on to praise Kevin Feige for the way he approaches building a franchise: from a fan’s perspective, even after all his own success with the MCU:

“To Kevin’s credit, he goes, ‘What do you think?” I told him what I thought, and he very graciously gave me his thoughts on world-building and franchises. I don’t know if you’ve ever interviewed Kevin, but you’re not talking to a businessman. You’re not talking to an executive. You’re talking to a fan. Whatever he’s telling you, he can’t help himself from smiling. Regardless of strategies or methodologies of building a franchise, the one thing that comes across is ‘I love what I do. Follow your heart, follow your gut, be respectful to the fans. Do what you want to see, and you’re going to be okay.’”

However, Stahelski did admit that Feige was clear with him about one thing: the John Wick franchise is not at all the same as the MCU: 

“As far as how to do that [build a franchise universe], he’s like, ‘I have 75 years of IP. You’ve got one movie, so it’s going to be a little different.’ He hits you with the reality. You got to earn it, man. But one of the bits of advice I got is make characters you love. Very similar to what the Wachowskis taught me … [he was also] like, ‘Make every frame, make every moment count.’ There are no throwaway scenes, there’s no throwaway performances, there are no background players, foreground players – everything in front of that camera, you got to make it count. John Wick 4 is a culmination of that, and that comes from the Russos, the Wachowskis, and Kevin driving that home for me.”

NEXT: Everything that’s Coming Next for the John Wick Franchise

John Wick: Chapter 4 is now in theaters. 

Via: Looper