TheJohn Wickuniverse is still expanding, and the upcomingCaine John Wickspinoff could be the franchise’s most unique story yet.John Wickstarted as a simple concept: Keanu Reeves starred as Mr. Wick, a retired professional assassin who returns to the world he left behind after thugs kill his dog and steal his car. While revenge stories had been done before, what madeJohn Wickstand out was its rich world of assassins. There are dozens of different factions that operate around the globe, while still following rules established by leaders of this dangerous community.
EachJohn Wickfilm builds upon this, introducing new rules and characters who add to the lore of this seriesand Wick’s backstory. Two spinoffs have already been made:The ContinentalandBallerina.The Continentalexplores how Ian McShane’sWinston became the leader of New York’s Continental HotelwhileBallerinaintroduces a new characterfrom the Ruska Roma, the ballet criminal group fromJohn Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. The next spinoff,Caine, will focus onDonnie Yen’s character fromJohn Wick: Chapter 4and could flip a storyline that’s common within this franchise.
John Wick Movies Have Mostly Been Revenge Stories
Including From The World Of John Wick: Ballerina
It’s essentially become a joke regarding how theJohn Wickfilms started.While he completes his revenge quest for his dog in the first film, it turns into a four-film killing spree,leading to hundreds of dead assassins who dared to challenge Mr. Wick. The first film is a simple revenge story, but most of the other films are centered around Wick’s vengeance. In the second outing, John gets revenge on Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio), who betrays John after calling in a debt. This leads to John becoming excommunicado, setting up the third film.
InJohn Wick: Chapter 4, John seeks vengeanceagainst the High Table, who refuse to leave him and his friends alone. Each film focuses on John achieving revenge or facing the consequences of his actions. The latest film,Ballerina, introduces Eve (Ana de Armas), who is also on a path of revenge to hunt down the cult who killed her father. She is successful, but her actions put her on a similar journey.While Eve is different from John in several ways, the franchise could use a fresh narrativeto shake things up.
Caine’s Spinoff Movie Could Reverse The John Wick Franchise’s Revenge Storyline
Caine Would Be Someone Else’s Target
Donnie Yen’s Caine steals the show inJohn Wick 4. He’s a blind yet deadly assassin and martial artist who is retired but is coerced into hunting and killing John after The Marquis (Bill Skarsgård) threatens his daughter. Fortunately, John and Donnie manage to trick The Marquis during their duel, killing him and freeing Caine from his control. However, during his mission, Caine kills Koji (Hiroyuki Sanada), the manager of the Osaka Continental Hotel. InJohn Wick 4’s post-credit scene, Koji’s daughter,Akira (Rina Sawayama), approaches Caine with a knife as he waits for his own daughter.
The plot of Caine’s spinoff isn’t confirmed as it’s still early in its development, but it has an opportunity to reverse the revenge storyline. The narrative will focus on Caine, who is trying to avoid someone else’s vengeance, rather than seek it himself. SinceAkira is confirmed to appear in the spinoff film, there’s a good chance that the story will be about Caine trying to avoid her. It’s doubtful that Akira will kill Caine at the beginning of the movie, setting up an intriguing dynamic between the two characters.
Caine Flipping John Wick & Ballerina’s Revenge Story Would Be Smart
The Next John Wick Spinoff Needs A Fresh Story
TheJohn Wickfranchise isn’t necessarily popular because of its great narratives. The stories are adequate backdrops for John and the other assassins to fight each other in endlessly creative ways. The series continues to reinvent the wheel with its high-octane action sequences, but not with its stories. Thus, it’s time for the franchise to switch things up, andCaineprovides an opportunity for the series to tell a new story about the cycle of revenge.
Making Caine the prey rather than the predator would be an interesting twist to the series, opening up some different thematic routes.
The revenge arc is getting tiring, especially afterBallerinarelied on it as well. Making Caine the prey rather than the predator would be an interesting twist to the series, opening up some different thematic routes. Additionally,John Wick 4established Akira’s motivation for vengeance, meaningCainecan skip much of the setupthatBallerinaand the firstJohn Wickhad.Cainehas plenty of flexibility in its direction, and the series should take advantage of that.
