John Wick 4 will have "new and interesting ways" to make John Wick suffer, says director

Keanu Reeves in John Wick 3 — (Image credit: Lionsgate)

John Wick 4 will see Keanu Reeves' titular assassin suffering once again, according to director Chad Stahelski.

The first footage from the upcoming fourquel was revealed at CinemaCon, showing Wick wielding some nunchucks and riding a horse through the desert.

"We keep finding new and interesting ways to have John Wick suffer," Stahelski told The Hollywood Reporter of the goal of John Wick 4. "That's where the action comes from. Figure out how to make him suffer, and then design backward."

Considering John Wick has suffered a fair amount already – from the death of his wife (and his dog) in the first film to being excommunicated from the entire criminal underworld in the second movie, and shot off a building in the third – it's hard to imagine just what the filmmakers have in store for his fourth outing.

As for whether John Wick 4 will be the assassin's last adventure, though, both Reeves and Stahelski were tight-lipped.

"We just attack one at a time," Reeves revealed, while Stahelski said: "We do it chapter by chapter. Just like an author; write the chapter, scratch head, write next chapter."

John Wick 4 finished production last year, and wrap gifts may have revealed the title of the movie: Hagakure. That's the name of a book by the samurai Yamamoto Tsunetomo, and it translates to 'hidden by the leaves.' The book, a warrior's guide, is famous for the phrase "the way of the warrior is death."

John Wick 4 arrives March 24, 2023. In the meantime, check out our guide to all of 2022's upcoming major movie release dates for everything this year has in store for us.

I'm the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.