John Wick 4 Reportedly Casts IT Star Bill Skarsgard
John Wick: Chapter 4 has reportedly added actor Bill Skarsgard to its cast. Skarsgard is best [...]
John Wick: Chapter 4 has reportedly added actor Bill Skarsgard to its cast. Skarsgard is best known for taking on the role of Pennywise the Clown in Warner Bros. recent reboot of Stephen King's It; he also had a small role in Deadpool 2, and breakout roles in horror TV series Hemlock Grove (Netflix) and the Stephen King-themed Castle Rock (Hulu). Seeing Bill Skarsgard make the jump to an action-movie franchise like John Wick might have a lot of people raising eyebrows, but the John Wick franchise has made a habit of tapping talented character actors as well as martial arts stars - especially when it comes to villain roles.
Collider couldn't confirm any details on what Bill Skarsgard's John Wick 4 role is all about, just the exclusive that he's in the film. There's the connective tissue in the fact that Skarsgard has worked with John Wick co-director David Leitch on Deadpool 2 and Charlize Theron's Atomic Blonde - which was probably enough endorsement for Leitch's collaborator, John Wick 4 director Chad Stahelski. Skarsgard's tall, lanky frame and big eyes would make for a frightening hitman or assassin, in much the same way his physicality terrified horror fans.
As stated, the John Wick series has made a tradition of getting good character actors into villain roles. The first film made its main antagonists a Russian mob father and son played by Swedish actor Michael Nyqvist (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) and Alfie Allen (Theon from Game of Thrones). Neither Nyquvist nor Allen were known for being action-genre names, but they ultimately worked as the guys you wanted Keanu Reeves' John Wick to beat up and/or shoot. Later sequels saw actors like rap star Common, Halle Berry, and Ruby Rose all step into the franchise and stake their respective claims in doing top-level action stuntwork. That's all to say, Bill Skarsgard may be another inspired pick.
John Wick: Chapter 4 is quickly building an exciting cast. Bill Skarsgard joins the franchise alongside Shamier Anderson (Wynonna Earp), pop singer Rina Sawayama, and martial arts superstar Donnie Yen (Rogue One). Shay Hatten and Micahel Finch are handling the script, and this will be the first of the John Wick movies made without series creator Derek Kolstad:
"I'm actually not involved in four and five," creator Derek Kolstad previously told Collider. "No. At a certain stage of the studio will tell you, your creation is graduated, and you wish it well. I'm still close with Chad [Stahelski], still close with Dave [Leitch], and I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm excited to see."
The John Wick franchise is also getting a TV expansion in the form of the spinoff series The Continental, which follows the infamous assassins world hotel.
John Wick: Chapter 4, which will arrive on May 27, 2022.
