Yahoo Movies John Wick: Chapter 4 director talks post-credits scene: 'I'd love to see those characters again'
Warning: This article contains spoilers for John Wick: Chapter 4.
The first three films in the Keanu Reeves–starring John Wick franchise did not end with a post-credits sequence, but cinemagoers who stay in their seats after the berserk events of the just-released John Wick: Chapter 4 will be rewarded with one final moment of tension.
The scene features Donnie Yen's blind assassin Caine, now free from the cruel machinations of the High Table and on his way to reunite with his daughter in Paris. But wait! In the film's last few seconds, we see singer Rina Sawayama's character Akira, carrying a switchblade and presumably hell-bent on exacting revenge after Caine has murdered her father, Shimazu (played by Kiroyuki Sanada). The scene is cut short before we discover if the pair embark on more deadly mayhem… or sort out their problems over tea.
Kayla Oaddams/WireImage 'John Wick: Chapter 4' director Chad Stahelski
So should we expect to see Caine and Akira again? To address the question, we asked filmmaker Chad Stahelski, who has directed all four movies in the John Wick franchise.
"I would love it if they carry on," he says. "You'd have to ask Keanu [about] his thoughts, but, for me, I love the idea."
Stahelski adds, "We did have versions of that scene that we actually put in the movie, pre-credit, but we didn't know if that was the right direction. I like not knowing if Akira actually did something or didn't. What choice did she make after that cut? I love the character of Akira, and I love the character of Caine, so maybe that's her transformation into what John Wick had become — or maybe she does the morally good thing and doesn't make the next move. But those are two characters I'd love to see again, personally."
Sawayama almost didn't appear in John Wick: Chapter 4 at all, initially turning down the offer.
"I got on a phone call with her," Stahelski recalls. "[I said], 'Hi, I'm Chad. I'm the director of John Wick.' And she was like, 'Oh, I like those movies.' I was like, 'That's good. How would you like to be in one?' And there was a little awkward silence. It was like, 'Yeah, I don't do movies. I've never acted. I don't do action.'"
Stahelski then spent an hour trying to persuade the singer to reconsider and make her big-screen debut.
"I [said], 'Look, we like the way you perform, and I love your vibe. Would you at least fly to Berlin and meet us?'" the filmmaker explains. "So, she spent the day with me, Keanu, and our stunt team, and did a little assessment. Having so much of a performance-dance background, she had a great mindset and memory for choreography, and a natural ability. She's got this charisma that speaks for itself."
He concludes, "After the day, we all got together in the office and said, 'Do you want to give it a go?' And she said, 'Yes.' She spent four or five weeks with the stunt team. It's pretty crazy."
John Wick: Chapter 4 is in theaters now.
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