Director Chad Stahelski hints at a fresh narrative that breaks from the high table saga and reinvents the franchise.
John Wick isn’t done yet — not by a long shot. Despite seemingly taking his final breath in John Wick: Chapter 4, the bullet-scarred assassin is returning to screens for a fifth chapter, and according to director Chad Stahelski, it’ll be unlike anything fans have seen before.
“The saga of John Wick was pretty wrapped up,” Stahelski admitted in an interview with Empire. It’s a fair point — the fourth film concluded with a bloodied Wick collapsing on the steps of Paris’ Sacré-Cœur Basilica, his tombstone later shown to audiences as apparent confirmation of his death. But crucially, we never saw the final moment. No body. No last breath. Just questions.
So how do you bring back a man who seemed to find peace, or at least closure?
“The only way to do a 5 is to have a new story that involves John Wick,” Stahelski teased. “It’s not a continuation, with the High Table. John dealt with his grief. It will be really different, and everybody will see the trailer and go, ‘Holy f**k… I gotta see that.’”
The confirmation of John Wick: Chapter 5 comes as part of a broader expansion of the so-called “Wick-iverse”. While Keanu Reeves’ central arc appeared to close, Lionsgate’s world of assassins is far from finished. The upcoming spinoff Ballerina, starring Ana de Armas and set between Chapters 3 and 4, is expected to feature Wick in a supporting role. Meanwhile, Donnie Yen’s character Caine — the blind assassin introduced in Chapter 4 — is getting a solo feature.
But perhaps most intriguing are two new projects that Stahelski says will feed directly into Chapter 5: an animated prequel film tracing Wick’s early days, and a TV series titled Under the High Table, set within the same shadowy organisation that governed the first four films.
“These are big priorities,” Stahelski explained. “Our idea is to try some things and explore some threads and use those two properties to catapult us forward into the ideas for John 5.”
What exactly this “new story” entails remains tightly under wraps, but Stahelski’s comments hint at a shift away from the structured mythos of the High Table — the council of global crime lords that has defined the franchise’s stakes. Having already survived excommunication, global bounty hunters, samurai duels, and an international manhunt, it appears John Wick may now be heading into more uncharted territory.
Speculation is already mounting among fans. Could the fifth film pivot to a more introspective tone, exploring Wick’s internal reckoning? Or might it dive even deeper into the surreal, near-mythological elements teased throughout the franchise? Either way, it’s clear the team behind the scenes is determined not to tread old ground.
What is certain is that Keanu Reeves remains central to the franchise’s identity. As long as he’s willing to don the black suit and reload those pistols, there’s a global audience ready to watch him do it. Stahelski’s promise of something “really different” may be just the reinvention the saga needs to keep surprising fans.The countdown has unofficially begun. With Ballerina set to arrive in UK cinemas on 6 June, and further Wick projects in development, the table is set for John Wick’s resurrection — just don’t expect it to look like anything we’ve seen before.
