It's been two years since the John Wick franchise delivered an unexpected development and killed Keanu Reeves' assassin. Yet, he's back in thanks to the movie's setting between the third and fourth installments of the main series. This was necessary to utilize Keanu's character once more after John Wick: Chapter 4's ending killed the Baba Yaga. From that moment, there has been uncertainty about how the franchise would carry on. Even with Ballerina and a spinoff for Caine coming, John Wick 5's development suggests Keanu's assassin won't stay dead permanently.

Whether that's the right decision for the franchise and character has been widely debated as a result. The fourth film gave John Wick a fitting conclusion to his story. Franchise director/overseer Chad Stahelski has even discussed the challenges of continuing John's story as the fifth film's story is ironed out. From my perspective, it appears that bringing John Wick back from the dead is more complicated than it's worth. , but Ballerina proves that John can stay dead. The franchise is in good hands going forward.

Replacing Keanu Reeves and John Wick is no easy task. The actor/character combination has become a modern-day action movie icon thanks to how well the movies have done. That's made the suggestion that someone will need to replace him to be the new face of John Wick a challenge that can seem insurmountable at times. Yet, Ballerina proves that Ana de Armas is more than up to that challenge with her portrayal of Eve Maccaro.

I was hoping to like Eve as a character and be impressed with Ana's action movie abilities once more, but Ballerina exceeded my expectations in both regards. Eve's general story - a Ruska Roma member on a mission targeting the people responsible for killing someone close to her - was all too familiar. She sounded on paper like a John Wick clone, only a bit younger and female. . She shows more emotion, needs to prove her abilities, and generally has a different view of her role in the assassin underworld.

Ana de Armas had a big role to play in making me care about Eve thanks to how she brought the character's emotional journey to life. Her action skills were also on full display in Ballerina. After showcasing her abilities in No Time To Die, this is the leading action role she deserved. Her fighting style is nothing like Keanu Reeves, and that's great. The movie makes a point to showcase how different they are, both in tactics and skill, and the results are some incredibly fun Ballerina action scenes with Ana at the center.

No one can ever truly replace John Wick. This is his franchise after all. Not even Ballerina can ignore that fact. Yet, . John Wick doesn't need to keep bringing Keanu Reeves back now that Ana de Armas is around. She's got what it takes to lead the franchise from here from a character and star perspective.

The idea of moving on from John Wick in the John Wick franchise is a bit easier to accept if there is a bankable star/character who can step in for Keanu. While Ballerina's opening weekend box office came in under projections, the movie has still performed admirably so far. Its $24 million opening weekend was the second lowest in the franchise. But, that's notably still well ahead of the original John Wick. In fact, Ballerina made more in its first three days domestically than the franchise starter did in a full week.

Ballerina has not been an undisputed box office hit so far, and it'd be easy to look at it as a disappointment based on more recent franchise installments. , so that the movie had a better chance of turning a profit. Whether it makes the estimated $225 million necessary to do that remains unclear. There's even a good chance it doesn't unless it has really strong legs. Yet, the movie is still a good performer for a franchise spinoff.

It's only a matter of time before Ballerina surpasses John Wick at the box office, both domestically and worldwide. Keanu may be headlining a $1 billion franchise now, but it didn't start off with huge returns. If Ana's movie can outperform the original and audiences accept Eve in the same way they did John, there is no reason why she shouldn't be given the chance to do more. That could then help facilitate John Wick remaining dead. The financial pressure to bring him back will decrease if Eve can carry that burden.

Losing Keanu Reeves in front of the camera would be a seismic change for the John Wick franchise. Even Ballerina couldn't resist bringing him back thanks to its timeline. But even if Keanu's time playing John Wick is done (not counting the upcoming prequel animated movie), that doesn't mean the franchise is totally resetting. Chad Stahelski, who directed the first four John Wick movies, has moved into a greater position with the franchise. continue to deliver the quality action that audiences expect.

That is evident with Ballerina. While the movie was directed by Len Wiseman, through additional photography. He ensured that Ballerina's action scenes would not disappoint and continued to display the creativity that has been a key element to the previous films. There's not as much of the traditional "gun-fu" fights since Eve doesn't fight like John. That's not an issue, though, when the movie uses the grenade fight, flamethrowers, ice skates, and more to keep adrenaline pumping.

With Stahelski continuing on with the franchise, including input in Donnie Yen's Caine spinoff for example, any future John Wick movies that come will remain safely in his hands. of the series' expansion. Keanu should also continue to give input, given how closely he works with Stahelski. So, just because John Wick would be dead in the universe, Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski can still help deliver more excellent action movies even without John Wick 5 happening.

The combination of interest in Eve as a character, Ana de Armas as a star, Ballerina's solid box office, and the continued involvement of Chad Stahelski (and likely Keanu Reeves) should make it a lot easier for Lionsgate to let John Wick - the character - stay dead even as John Wick - the franchise - continues on. This movie is proof that . The plot holes created with John Wick's Ballerina return even made me realize the movie would've been better off without him.

That thought has now expanded into his future in the franchise overall. Reversing John Wick's death is a complicated decision that risks making John Wick: Chapter 4 less satisfying and creates more challenges whenever it comes time to give the character an ending, again. The John Wick franchise has done a great job of fleshing out the world beyond Keanu's character, and there's now an opportunity to let it continue on. As much as I've loved the previous movies, I'm ready for the post- era of the John Wick franchise and let John Wick stay dead.