Ballerina is the next installment in the John Wick franchise, and an exciting expansion in the fun-filled action IP headlined by Keanu Reeves. The film is set to follow Eve Macarro, a role essayed by Bond girl and Knives Out alum Ana de Armas.
However, despite all the excitement surrounding the spin-off, which comes on the heels of the four-installment run that the films have had so far, producer Chad Stahelski revealed that he did not envision John Wick appearing in Ballerina. Despite this, Reeves would eventually reprise his role in the spin-off for a short cameo, as the producer came around to the idea eventually.
Chad Stahelski was against a John Wick cameo in Ballerina, but..
Chad Stahelski, speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, talked about why he did not want a Keanu Reeves cameo in the film. He wanted to maintain the spin-off as its own distinct story without Reeves’ character’s interference, but eventually decided against it. Ballerina runs parallel to the events of John Wick Chapter 3, with the title of the former being a reference to Macarro’s stint as a ballerina before she became an assassin. Staheliski said:
That wasn’t in the original script. To be honest, I was kind of against it. But I do see the benefit and we wanted to help out (director Len Wiseman). We had just opened John Wick 4 and it was huge. He couldn’t go back to the model of the first John Wick and do a little $18 million indie thing and try to build it up.
Stahelski wanted to give the spin-off a chance to succeed by connecting it more clearly to the main franchise and by banking on Reeves’ star power. The producer also revealed that he is currently working on a second spin-off centered around the character Caine, and a fifth John Wick film is being actively fleshed out. John Wick is a franchise that still feels fresh to fans, and if there are more stories to be told, Stahelski will work it out with Reeves once there is substantial material to discuss with the Matrix alum.
Chad Stahelski has confirmed that John Wick is not going to appear in the Caine film
Despite giving the character a cameo in Ballerina, the producer has revealed that, as things currently stand, the Caine film, which will star actor Donnie Yen in the titular role, has no plans to feature Keanu Reeves’s John Wick in the story. The second spin-off, and the sixth film overall, Stahelski has described the project as an ‘ode to kung-fu films’.
The Batman Part II scribe Mattson Tomlin is currently slated to write the script for the film. Stahelski has stated that the motivations behind the franchise branching out are not to make a quick buck, but to give the fans of the films what they want.
Caine definitely seems to be a character that fans would love to see more of, who is set to bring a whole new flavor to the world of assassins that Ballerina and the four John Wick films have fleshed out.
Ballerina is set to hit the theatres in the US starting Friday, June 6, 2025. All four John Wick films are available for streaming on Peacock.
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