John Wick: Chapter 4 is now playing in theaters, and the latest installment to the beloved action franchise is getting great reviews from critics and audiences alike. Currently, the Chad Stahelski-directed film is up on Rotten Tomatoes with a 95% critics score and a 97% audience score. Unsurprisingly, the new movie features an extremely high body count that rivals the previous films. In addition to the many, many assassins that get in John Wick’s (Keanu Reeves) way, some surprising characters didn’t make it out of the fourth film alive. Warning: Major Spoilers Ahead!
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The first big death of the film happens as soon as John has healed from the wounds he acquired at the end of the third film. He leaves the care of the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) and seeks The Elder (George Georgiou), the mysterious head of the High Table who lives in the deserts of Morocco. The previous Elder was played by Saïd Taghmaoui in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. If you recall, John’s meeting with the figurehead resulted in the loss of his finger and his wedding ring. While seeking out the current Elder, John requests his ring be returned, but The Elder says it’s gone and tells John he came all this way for nothing. John tells him that’s not actually true and kills him.
The second big death of the film also happened early on and hit especially hard due to recent real-life events. When the Marquis de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård) informs Winston (Ian McShane) that the Continental in New York City is being demolished, he gives the manager one hour to evacuate the building. After the hotel is destroyed, he tells Winston he no longer needs his concierge, Charon (Lance Reddick), and kills Charon on the spot. Later in the film, Winston talks about putting “Friend” on Charon’s gravestone, which is especially sad considering Reddick unexpectedly passed away last week. However, the actor is expected to appear in the spin-off, Ballerina, which already wrapped production.
The next big death amidst all of the killings was Shimazu (Hiroyuki Sanada). Shimazu was the manager of the Continental Hotel in Osaka, and the father of Akira (Rina Sawayama) who serves as his concierge. Shimazu and John are longtime friends, so when John shows up at the hotel, the Table’s assassins aren’t far behind. The list of killers includes Caine (Donnie Yen), a blind assassin and martial artist who has been tasked to kill John in exchange for his own daughter’s safety. During the showdown at the Osaka hotel, Caine faces off with Shimazu in an epic swordfight, and Caine comes out victorious. In fact, Caine tells Akira he’ll be waiting for her to seek vengeance on him, and while we never see Caine die, the movie’s post-credit scene teases a fight between them.
When John decides he wants to set up an old-fashioned duel with the Marquis, he realizes he must get back in with his “family” in order to make the arrangements. Katia (Natalia Tena) tells John she will let him back into the fold if he avenges her father’s death and provides proof. This leads to a confrontation with Killa (Scott Adkins), the head of the German branch of the High Table. John takes part in a rigged card game with Killa, Caine, and the Tracker AKA Mr. Nobody (Shamier Anderson). When Killa cheats, it leads to yet another gunfight which travels through a rave, and John ultimately kills Killa after making him take a nasty fall. John removes Killa’s gold teeth as proof of death, and Katia lets him back into the family.
After John sets up his duel with the Marquis, the Table ups the bounty on John’s head to $40 million. This leads to all of the assassins in Paris attempting to kill John before he can reach the duel’s start at sunrise. A whole lot of people die along the way, including Chidi (Marko Zaror), the second-in-command of the Marquis. While Mr. Nobody was initially after John, he ultimately stands down when John protects his dog. At one point, Chidi throws the dog into a car (don’t worry, he’s okay!), and Mr. Nobody soon exacts his revenge by siccing the dog on Chidi before shooting him in the head.
After a long battle, John makes it to the duel and faces off with the Marquis’ champion, Caine. John and Caine follow classic duel rules and shoot each other twice, but in the third round, John refrains from firing and is knocked down by Caine’s shot. The Marquis decides to take over Caine’s gun and finish John off, but he didn’t notice that John never fired. John takes the opportunity and uses his third shot to kill the Marquis, freeing himself from the Table and securing Caine’s daughter’s safety.
While John Wick managed to win the duel, he still succumbs to Caine’s gunshots and loses his life. In a surprising movie, the film ends with Winston and the Bowery King at John’s grave, which reads “Loving Husband.” While a fifth movie is still up in the air, Stahelski recently teased that this might not actually be the end of John Wick.
Are you surprised John Wick died in John Wick: Chapter 4? What about the movie’s other big deaths? Tell us in the comments!
