Does John Wick die at the end of ‘John Wick Chapter 4’?
The new movie in the John Wick franchise, Chapter 4, is arguably the best yet. We see our impenetrable hero take on the High Table and fight his way across some of the world’s most beautiful locations, including Paris, Berlin and Osaka. However, several things within the film lead us to question: “Does John Wick die at the end of John Wick Chapter 4?” As expected, there are several spoilers ahead.
After somehow fighting his way past just about every assassin and his brother throughout the movie, including a perilous final ascent of stairs in which he finally takes care of Chidi, the Marquis de Gramont’s right-hand man, our hero finds himself outside the Sacre Couer in Paris at the stroke of sunrise.
Wick is to duel his friend, Caine, reluctantly fighting on behalf of the Marquis, who is powerful in wealth and brutality but knows that he is likely no match for Wick when it comes to accuracy with a pistol. A tense shootout reminiscent of the duel in Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon ensues, with both Wick and Caine injured after two shots.
At the third shot, Wick misses Caine, who returns with a seemingly fatal shot to the midriff. It appears that the Marquis has won the duel, and Wick’s battering over the last two and a half hours has been for nothing but the audience’s enjoyment. Manager of the New York Continental and Wick’s advisor Winston will also be executed.
As the Marquis takes the pistol from Caine and descends upon Wick, we begin to think, ‘Did he really fire his last shot?’ And as the Marquis gets closer, Winston reveals the news to us, calling the Marquis an arrogant fool in the process. Bang! Wick guns down the Marquis, and everyone rejoices.
But hang on, that gunshot wound looks bad. Everyone departs the Sacre Couer, leaving Wick and Winston to look over the Parisian sunset. Wick is sat down on the steps to the church, tending to his wound. Then, suddenly, we’re at his grave. Had John Wick really just died? After all, he’d been through? His gravestone simply reads, “A loving husband”, as he always wished.
So it might, on the surface, appear that our hero really has perished, and the unkillable really has been killed. However, upon the credits rolling, I couldn’t help but feel that this was not really the end. After all, we didn’t actually see Wick’s body lowered into the ground, nor did we see him actually close his eyes and lay down and die.
Perhaps Winston and the Bowery King had Wick’s gravestone made to put off the rest of the High Table from seeking out his future execution. After all, the Harbinger of the High Table desperately wanted the Marquis to get rid of Wick in a more conventional fashion rather than risking Wick winning the duel of the “old ways” and being “a saint” in the process.
Outside of the film, both director and Chad Stahelski have gone on record to state that they are open to making more John Wick films in the future, should the audiences continue to receive them well. If this last film is anything to go by, then a John Wick Chapter 5 is likely just on the horizon. However, whether or not John Wick will be replaced by another John Wick, or if the Baba Yaga has resurrection powers, remains to be seen. But it just didn’t feel that John Wick really died at the conclusion of the fourth film, so don’t be too surprised to learn that his death was faked by Winston and the Bowery King, who likely still have their suspicions about the High Table.
