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Ballerina will bring Ian McShane back into the world of John Wick after his appearances in all four previous movies in the Keanu Reeves-led franchise, however while this part of the character’s story is being told within the confines of Wick’s world, the actor doesn’t hold with the backstory that became canon in spinoff show, The Continental .

The Continental was an “event” miniseries, which took place long before the events of the main John Wick movies, but did feature a younger version of McShane’s Winston. While the show set up a backstory for the character, and several others who would appear further down the Wick timeline, it seems that McShane is happy to reject the story they gave his character, as he has his own beliefs about where Winston came from. Speaking to CBR ahead of Ballerina’s upcoming release, the veteran star said:

"There was a talk about the television show, that sort of prequel they did. I don't know, it's nothing to do with me. I always thought, if you were going to do a background on Winston and Charon, they didn't come from a criminal world. They came from the world of, I think more sort of like government, which becomes, when you lead government, that's when you become a criminal, or you're a criminal when you're in the government, and you just expand your horizons, your opportunities, when you leave these operatives."

While the John Wick franchise grew considerably over its four movies, that doesn’t always allow carte blanche when it comes to expanding the story beyond its titular character. In the end, people watch a John Wick movie for John Wick…not the history of some of the other characters who have frequented the infamous hotel of assassins.

Now, Ballerina is looking to expand the franchise in a different way – but with the inclusion of characters everyone knows, being played by the actors they have become accustomed to seeing, including John Wick himself, Keanu Reeves. Although Wick died in the fourth movie – a minor point that needs to be worked around by director Chad Stahelski for his fifth Wick movie – Ballerina takes place between the third and fourth films in the franchise. This means that Wick gets to make an appearance, and that is always a good thing.

Ballerina stars Ana de Armas as Eve, an assassin who takes on a dangerous underworld to avenge her murdered father. Along the way she will cross paths with a number of familiar faces after checking into The Continental – including McShane’s Winson and Lance Reddick in one of his final roles, repising the part of Charon. When her mission begins making waves, there is only one man that is going to be on her tail – Reeves’ John Wick.

Ballerina has been giving a huge push to its marketing campaign, but early indications are that the film will be a decent performer, but will open with almost half the box office of John Wick: Chapter 4. Whatever happens when the film hits theaters, it is clear that the John Wick franchise will continue on a little while longer…how much longer is yet to be seen.

Source: CBR

CBR