Keanu Reeves will face a rival hitman in John Wick: Chapter Two

Little by little we're learning more and more about John Wick: Chapter Two, the highly anticipated sequel to the 2014 hit. The recently unveiled synopsis revealed that Keanu Reeves' legendary boogeyman will be heading to Rome, and now we know that one of the unsavoury characters he'll encounter will be a rival hitman.

The new info is courtesy of Common, who spoke to Collider about his role in the follow-up; "My character is less a villain than he is a rival to John Wick. They’re cut from the same cloth. They’re the same type of warriors. But it’s time for battle, at a certain point. It’s a lot of fun to get to be in this movie. We shot in some great places. I just love that world and I’m excited to see what comes from it."

John Wick did an amazing job setting up its world, and it's clear that Common is looking forward to becoming a part of it; "The sequel is taking the world of John Wick – and I love the world of John Wick – and elevating it and taking it higher, but you’ve got the essence of what John Wick is. It’s not the same story repeated. It’s heightened in the environment, the action and the struggle for John Wick. The action and the fighting is just growing and getting better. It’s next level."

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Another aspect that John Wick was lauded for was its impressive stunt work - much of which was executed by Reeves himself - and Common relished the opportunity to go through the same process; "I told the director, Chad [Stahelski], ‘I want to be one of the best dudes you’ve seen that has done action, that is not a stunt guy.’ And he was like, ‘Okay.’ So, we did months of training. It was like learning a new language, learning some of the fighting techniques."

Hopefully, Common's hard work will make for some great action sequences that raise the already high bar set by the original.

Directed by Chad Stahelski and starring Keanu Reeves, Bridget Moynahan, Peter Stormare, Laurence Fishburne, Lance Reddick, Ian McShane, Common, John Leguizamo, and Ruby Rose, John Wick: Chapter Two is released in UK and US cinemas on February 10, 2017.

Images: Thunder Road Pictures/Warner Bros

Amon is a contributing editor and columnist for Empire magazine, but is also a Film and TV writer for GamesRadar+, Total Film, and others. He has also written for NME, Composer Mag, and more, along with being a film critic for TalkSport. He is also the co-host of the Fade to Black Podcast, and a video mashup creator. Can also do a pretty good Bane impersonation.