Keanu Reeves is getting down and bloody again in the first action-packed John Wick 4 trailer. Alongside Reeves, the cast for the latest installment in the action franchise will see the returns of Laurence Fishburne, Ian McShane and Lance Reddick. John Wick 4 will also introduce a number of action vets to the franchise, including Donnie Yen, Shamier Anderson, Hiroyuki Sanada and Scott Adkins, as well as Rina Sawayama, Bill Skarsgård and Clancy Brown.
Development on John Wick 4 was teased ahead of John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum's release, with Lionsgate confirming the sequel after its successful opening weekend, along with John Wick 5 shortly thereafter. Though initially planned to shoot back-to-back, the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic and Reeves' schedule shooting The Matrix Resurrections saw these plans scrapped and focus put solely on the fourth film. John Wick 4 finally began filming in mid-2021 in multiple countries and finally wrapped in October.
As San Diego Comic-Con gets underway, Lionsgate has revealed the official John Wick 4 trailer as part of Collider's Directors on Directing panel in Hall H of the event. The video offers the first proper glimpse at the action sequel as Reeves' titular assassin makes his return and embarks on his new quest to face off against the High Table.
Given that the films in the franchise keep generally simple stories, the John Wick 4 trailer knows what audiences will be coming back for and shows off plenty of the action to be expected from the sequel. The trailer's footage seems to be similar to that shown at this past April's CinemaCon, in which Keanu Reeves' titular assassin took to building on the samurai skills seen in John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum, namely with his use of nunchakus in the new film. Though the first John Wick 4 trailer does see the return of Laurence Fishburne's Bowery King, it does seem to be slightly different from the CinemaCon footage in which he simply asks Wick if he's ready to get back to work rather than the more profane declaration of "You are in the presence of the motherf*cking king!".
One of the more exciting takeaways from the John Wick 4 trailer is the reveal of the multiple new High Table members Keanu Reeves' titular protagonist will be going to war with, namely Bill Skarsgård and Donnie Yen's undisclosed characters. The Pennywise actor gets plenty of screen time in the trailer, potentially hinting at his importance to the plot in the same vein as Asia Kate Dillon's Adjudicator in John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum, while Yen appears to be a high-ranking member of the High Table and a formidable foe for Wick in the film. Audiences will have to keep their eyes peeled for a full John Wick 4 trailer in the lead up to the film's March 24, 2023 release. -Collider
