[To reiterate, spoilers ahead for both the upcoming John Wick film and the two previous entries in the franchise.]
With both of my primary writing groups on break for a spell, I’ve had periods of time recently where I’ve been relatively free to do something long overdue binge-watching of materials related to the upcoming third installment in the magnificent John Wick franchise: John Wick: Chapter 3–Parabellum.
Trailers, TV spots, scene clips, reaction videos, even a few interviews—though I’ve mostly put a hold on that last one until after seeing the movie, as more information than I would like is being given away. I’ve been in JW heaven, people.
In the course of hunting for TV spots specifically, I came across this intriguing video very shortly after its release. The video combines some of the already released trailers and/or tv spots with a new clip showcasing a snippet of a key conversation John Wick (Keanu Reeves) has with the character of Sofia (Halle Berry), who will be introduced to us in Parabellum.
My initial reaction? “Alright, that’s it! No more new trailers for me! I’ll just stick to watching reactions to the ones I’ve already seen.”
On the one hand, it’s cool to now have confirmation of my suspicion that Sofia is the manager of the Moroccan branch of the Continental.
But geez, it feels like these trailers are starting to give away way too much. I didn’t mind before, because it didn’t seem like major plot points or revelations. Now, though? Starting to cross the line.
That said, this is most definitely intriguing. With that footage we’ve seen of Sofia striding through the lobby of the New York Continental, I’m curious if she’s going to have a meeting with Winston, Manager to Manager. (Heh, can’t resist noting that if you’re a “Burn Notice” fan like myself, you’ve learned to be afraid of the big “M” word—Management!)
But what really catches my eye here is Wick himself (well, naturally!). He in some ways seems more lost and subdued here than we’re used to seeing him. Actually, bartender Addy’s word from the first film seems fitting—Wick seems vulnerable here. That’s something I feel we saw more of in the second film than in the first. He was struggling with how to cope with these different situations he was being forced into—the hit on Gianna, Santino’s disastrous prospective takeover, and how he kept finding himself pulled back into a life he’d thought he would be able to leave behind.
Heck, John earned his retirement—more than earned it, by the sound of things—yet still the spectres of the Underworld and its associated people continue to haunt him.
In some ways it feels like John is going to be more confident now in this third film than he was for most of the second. He made an aggressive play to deal with Santino in the finale of that movie, and he at least had a good idea of what to expect following that. And with Excommunicado status and little left to lose beyond his very life, the gloves have come off, and in the trailers we’ve glimpsed a John Wick who seems to be getting a little satisfaction from the fact he can now employ his skills to an extent that he couldn’t when bound by the rules. And remember: the rule-bound John was the one who still became the stuff of legends that inspired outright terror…when watered down. How much scarier is this incarnation of Wick‽ (All I can say is that we’re lucky he’s not actually as vicious a man as some people think, despite his sheer ability on a professional level.)
But there’s a problem with this—and my last sentence kind of relates to that—even if he can fulfill his promise to Winston to neutralize all attackers…does he really want to? Having to take on so many attackers is going to be beyond exhausting. And Wick is a man who’s already been forced into operating at a brutally relentless pace since the events of the first film.
From what I can tell, the inciting incident of the first film occurred less than 48 hours after Helen’s funeral. And we know from bonus content that the second film starts about five days after the ending of the first. (And even if you didn’t have that specific a timeline, they hint at it via the leftover bruising he got during the first film that carry over into the second and also by the fact that he’s only just now getting his car back—I think we can naturally guess that it wouldn’t take Wick too long to accomplish this task. The Iosef situation was the “hard” part of the story, relatively speaking, and he got that handled in no time flat.)
And allowing for that and some padding for travel time and all, I would still estimate that the totality of the first and second films probably takes place within two weeks of Helen’s funeral, and probably closer to a week and a half.
Keanu’s joke about John’s likely needing a truckload of therapy by the time this is over rings true.
Helen
Daisy
Marcus
Gianna (by his own hand, no less)
Harry (not sure how close they were, but they’re at least friendly, and he was killed doing a favor for John)
The house
Most of his mementoes of Helen, including the phone that held his videos of her
Whatever cordial relationship he’d had with Cassian, though perhaps Wick’s sparing of his life has compensated—a life for a life
And now he’s been Excommunicated and thus cut off from his friends and allies in that world at the worst possible time.
(Which is another thing that’ll also make it harder to deal with all those attackers.)
Looking at all of that, another vibe I’ve gotten from the trailers and sneak peeks of Parabellum makes sense: exasperation. It was already in play by the second film, and there’s even more reason for it now.
The High Table itself clearly has resources, and there are also the many under its rule. Lord knows how many John will have to face, just in New York City alone. And even if he survives in the short term, how long does this go on? It seems that the situation could potentially go on either for the rest of his natural life or until he’s wiped out so many people that either the High Table backs off or the assassins underneath them no longer care to seek the bounty, because it’s not worth the risk.
What’s more, killing all those people could itself bring additional consequences and trigger chain reactions…just as his previous actions have.
This is a running theme throughout the series—one I’ll explore in more depth in an upcoming post (Be on the lookout for it!). Just on a basic level, the more people he kills, the more bad blood he creates. He could also inadvertently end up killing off people who are friends or allies of people Wick is friends or allied with himself. And even though it would be in self defense, and the people in this world are pretty matter of fact about how the business goes, that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t bring pain and possible repercussions.
There’s also been this higher theme and question of absolution and finding peace both internally and externally.
I think what we’re seeing in Wick now is a man who is trying to bring an end to this once and for all. He wants to get the High Table off his back, give himself true freedom from the Assassin Underworld—having come to the hard and chilling realization that he’s never actually had this—and have the chance to rebuild his life, as Helen would’ve wanted. Simply going on the run indefinitely isn’t a solution, and I think he also wants to accomplish these goals in a more efficient and less bloody way than a war of attrition.
Now, there’s an individual known as “the Elder.” And based on the poster that’s been released for him—
—it appears that he could be from or live in the same area that Sofia now operates in, and I suspect he’s the one John is seeking to speak with. Just his title alone makes him sound like someone from whom Jonathan can seek counsel. Typically Winston himself would be in that role, but John’s no longer in New York, and based on the glimpses we’ve gotten of the tension between Winston and the High Table over the matter of Wick, I think Jonathan may also be trying to avoid getting Winston into any further trouble for the time being. (And it looks like Jonathan does end up spending some time with Winston anyways and talking things over with him.)
In any case, New York just plain is not a good place for John to be right now for several reasons, so it makes sense he would’ve made himself scarce.
Now, there are other possible reasons for not currently seeking Winston’s counsel here. It may be that John knows the Elder has a specific area of expertise that is what he needs right now.
It could also be that Winston is…no longer available. Note to the creative team: If ya’ll kill off Winston, pretty sure I’m gonna cry my eyes out.
And we know from the trailers that John also meets at some point with the Director, who—like the Elder—seems to be a high-ranking member of the Assassin’s Guild. Possibly a current or former member of the High Table itself.
We know that she at some point asks him what he wants, that at some point he tells her he wants passage, and that at some point she tells him that the path to Heaven begins in Hell.
I keep saying “at some point” because trailers often do things like splicing scenes together and altering the order of things. I have a suspicion that the actual order of events may be more like this: The Director asks Jonathan what he wants, and he replies that he’s seeking passage. But at some point she presses harder, asking him what he really wants here. He then gives an answer along the lines of freedom, peace, absolution, redemption. And she in turn advises him of the path he’ll have to tread if he truly wishes to obtain these things.
I really like both the epic feel and the sense of depth and spiritual tie-in of her statement—that to get to Heaven he’ll have to first make his way through Hell. And this reminds me of a scene from the second film that tied in both the spiritual imagery and the theme of duality. During his conversation with Santino D’Antonio, warning him of the consequences of betraying Wick, Winston calls John both a “priest” and “The Devil” in pretty much the same breath—although the key difference is that he spoke of the priest role in a more current sense and the Devil aspect as a former role.
You stabbed the devil in the back and forced him back into the life that he had just left. You incinerated the priest’s temple. Burned it to the ground. Now he’s free of the marker, what do you think he’ll do? He had a glimpse of the other side and he embraced it. But you, Signor D’Antonio… took it away from him.
Ian McShane’s character, “Winston,” in John Wick: Chapter 2
(And it took me longer than it should’ve to understand why he called John’s house a temple. It was a place of refuge and peace for him, but also something deeper: it had a special sacredness for him because it represented his wife and their marriage. It was where they had lived and made memories, and it was where the mementoes of her dwelled. Indeed, as Helen’s backstory is that she was an award-winning artist and photographer, it’s likely that some of the paintings and photographs we see in the house are actually her own works, so carry an extra value on a personal level.)
But uniting Winston’s and the Director’s statements, what exactly is the Hell Jonathan will have to walk through? Well, the obvious is the battle against the many seeking his life, especially now in the context of being exiled and alone. But I think there may be something more, and that this ties to another moment from the video, plus the question of exactly how he will escape. We see John being told that the 14 million USD bounty is now up to 18 million USD and will continue to rise as long as he’s alive.
Look at that last part again. As long as he’s alive.
Seems obvious, but that could be a crucial hint. If they’ll pursue him as long as he lives, is the way out by faking his death? And we also have that line from the Adjudicator: “You know the consequences if he lives.” Now, this could mean any number of things. Perhaps she’s threatening Winston and warning that he’ll be held responsible if John survives despite the High Table’s sentence upon him. But there’s an alternate explanation, as well: that they fear what it’ll signify. Mr. Wick broke an absolutely central, inviolable, concrete rule in their world. If he gets away with it, that would arguably set a dangerous precedent. And while very few if any are at his level, and it may be decades or longer before there’s a worthy successor to that throne—if one shall ever actually come—it’s still a risk. We’ve already seen via Ms. Perkins and Viggo Tarasov that there are already people of lesser talent who are nevertheless willing to violate stern rules such as that protecting Continental safety.
And while they may be taken out fairly quickly, they can still do immediate damage in the meantime—Perkins herself killed Harry and nearly killed a resting, recovering Wick who had no reason to expect an ambush. And this cuts to an even bigger issue: besides the direct loss of life, such attacks are dangerous in that they damage the very core of the Continental’s purpose and existence. What’s the point if people cannot and do not feel safe, secure, and at ease there?
And the blatant violation of such a major rule also points in the direction of violating other primary tenets of the Assassin Underworld.
The episode between Wick and Santino could cause an attitude and behavioral pattern of rebellion to grow and spread throughout the society—especially if people feel it can be gotten away with. And I believe one of the very reasons that such a strict code was considered necessary was that this is a world of extreme and near-continual violence. Without rules to sternly and carefully maintain order, it would easily descend into a mind-numbing, chaotic, frighteningly savage bloodbath. It could deteriorate, implode outright, or lose the truce it currently has with law enforcement.
There’s also that line about how no men live above the rules. So it seems that Wick may represent much more than just a rogue individual; he could represent the domino that could lead to an even wider cascading effect. And hey, that seems to be his inadvertent specialty at this point!
There may also be a fear that his bucking of the system may yield to or be indicative of more aggressive and upwards-aiming ambitions, which will be spoken of in a POST TO COME.
So the conclusion of all of this is that for Jonathan Wick to survive this situation is considered by the High Table and its members an utterly unacceptable outcome. Which makes it likely that the only way John will be given peace is in death…
…or in the illusion of it.
What if the escape for John will come in the form of faking his own death? And here’s where my theory gets a bit disturbing, ladies and gents.
There was an intriguing bit of behind-the-scenes footage released a number of months ago—back during 2018, I believe—showing a scene that appears to take place in a subway station, possibly Grand Central itself. It shows Wick squaring off with Mark Dacascos’ character, Zero, with both men wielding knives. That alone is quite exciting, but there was something more that caught viewers’ eyes.
If you looked closely, Reeves’ left ring finger—the one his black wedding band is worn on!—was covered with some sort of neon-green substance or material. That seemed to indicate there would be some kind of green-screening effect. The big question is WHY?
My stomach sank at a major possibility raised: was Wick meant to have lost that digit? It would certainly be a harrowing turn of events for the audience. We’ve seen him shot (albeit in a bulletproof vest) and we’ve seen him stabbed outright. But a loss like this is a permanent mutilation of the character, and that’s something on a whole other level. It also carries even more significance than usual—which is saying a lot—because it’s the very finger that carried his wedding band, which he’s continued to wear throughout the series.
Also throughout the series have we seen the markers of his and Helen’s shared past, the physical manifestations of memory, being torn from him again and again. Daisy, the collar, the phone, the house and everything it contained—all gone.
To lose his ring finger would be a massive and brutal gesture, a literal severing of yet another link in the chain. It would honestly seem a deep affront.
Which leaves me a bit shaky on the question I have in mind: Was the injury even accidental? With everything he’s going to be up against in general, plus facing multiple different attackers wielding edged weapons, plus his own preexisting exhaustion—which will only be increased over the course of these new battles—it’s entirely possible that even the Legend himself will slip and pay a severe price for a split second of vulnerability.
He is human, and he does indeed err.
Yet…there’s also a far darker possibility. What if he cut off his own finger in order to fake his death?
I can’t imagine the people he’s up against will be easy ones to fool—if so, they likely would be dead already themselves!—and I fully expect they would demand proof of death, especially from anyone claiming to have killed such an un-killable man as Mr. Wick.
Would a severed finger be sufficient proof of this? If so, how would it even be transmitted? Will he use an ally as a courier? And does Zero fit into the story somehow? Will he accept false credit for killing Wick?
The regard Zero has for him as an ultra-high-caliber opponent could argue either way—he might be willing to accept praise for a false win against him, or he may value an actual win far too much to go that underhanded a route; he’d want a legitimate loss over a false victory.
Another huge question here is how disabling the loss would be in terms of weapons manipulation. John is left-dominant though also highly ambidextrous. He shows an amazing and fluid versatility in use of his whole body and its comprising parts in the process of fighting, and can perform impressive feats of dexterity—such as the one-handed chamber check from the second film—with even his non-dominant hand. How does the loss of a ring finger affect the handling of firearms—pistol, revolver, rifle, shotgun, grenade launcher, et cetera—and other arms like the garrote and edged weapons, such as the knives and now sword we’ll be seeing him make use of.
Is this a feasible loss? What’s more, is there an additional layer of symbolism to it? Is John choosing to mutilate himself in a way that will disable, or at least severely handicap, his wielding of most weapons? Forced peace, forced and irrevocable abandonment of the path of war?
The move also carries a bit of a samurai/yakuza vibe, a la yubitsume. Based on the promotional material thus far, this would match some of the vibes being brought into this third film. And if the point here is to fake his death, there would be an additional benefit besides just being left alone. While we know Wick is wealthy, and also has stuff stashed in more than one place, we also know that he’s lost some stuff via the destruction of his home. If it’s a friend who claims credit for his death, that leaves open the possibility of sharing a bounty that’s now at a minimum of $18 million.
But again, the questions of the extremity of the measure and the symbolism when it comes to Helen make the idea all the more questionable. I did surmise that maybe the very choice of finger is meant to make it more convincing, but then would his enemies even pick up on that particular significance? Well, perhaps his Impossible Task and the episode after Helen’s death gave them a sufficient idea—that woman was the light of his life, and his enemies are of a caliber where they might appreciate the irony of the loss if aware which particular digit it is.
All that said, I do think it’s probably much more likely that whatever injury or mutilation may occur will be performed by an enemy rather than by Wick’s own hand.
And yet, the more far-fetched theory is a concept that, while not unheard of (you can find fragments of similar ideas in both fiction and real life), would probably be unexpected and gritty enough to provide a genuine shock to an audience that expects to see elements of violence, darkness, loss, and some injury sustained by our hero (or antihero). Indeed, this would be a shock whether it’s done by an enemy or as an act by John himself.
And bear this much in mind: this is a man who was hinted at in the first film and outright stated in the original screenplay to have been suicidal after the loss of Helen. And then when we see him near the end of the second film, he initially seems resigned to the prospect of his own death.
We’ve seen John lose multiple people and items valuable to him, along with a pet (not a person, but I wouldn’t mark her as an item, either). We’ve also seen him teeter between life and death, not just in terms of a physical standpoint but also mentally. We’ve seen him have drive and purpose and happiness and we’ve also seen him haunted, empty, in pain, and lost. We’ve witnessed him in some ways offer himself up to Death and dare it to strike, and we’ve seen him rally his will and declare his intention to win. And we’ve witnessed the inescapable presence of the Assassin Underworld and its tendrils maintaining a looming stranglehold on his life.
After all we’ve seen, it doesn’t seem as far fetched to think that John might be the type gritty, resilient, frustrated, and determined enough to look at such a prospect and be willing to pay the brutal price of it if he believes it’ll successfully grant him his freedom. This brings to mind for me the villain from the 2012 Jack Reacher film with Tom Cruise. “The Zec”—the man kept as a prisoner, but willing to amputate his own fingers to save his life.
And again, we can find parallels to this in real life amongst both humans and animals.
It would definitely be a chilling and stomach-turning moment for the audience, and no doubt an impactful one as well.
Do I hope that it happens? Absolutely not. This is one theory where I’ll be much happier if it doesn’t pan out. I also hope that the more likely possibility that he loses his finger in the course of battle doesn’t pan out, either—though I can’t figure out which would be worse: He loses his finger in battle but carries on with every ounce of the toughness we know he possesses and then some? Or he beats the High Table at their own game, both literally and figuratively severing ties with both the first and second phases of his life and slipping away, extra resources in hand, to start a third phase of life with a truly clean slate?
I’ve kind of made those options sound less miserable just now, but still…if I’m going to cry in the theater once again, I’d rather it not be over something that disturbing and irrevocable. The guy is not MGR:R-era Raiden, where he can just get another that works even better than the natural one he lost.
But we come back to that question of exactly why they would need to green-screen his finger in the first place. Perhaps Reeves had an actual injury or bandaging there that would need to be hidden? Or they intend for there to be some kind of less crippling injury, but one that for whatever reason still calls for the use of CGI alterations rather than simply regular makeup and/or prosthetics.
I know they used CGI in the first film to create Victor’s broken leg and Ms. Perkins’ dislocated thumb. Perhaps a similar thing is at play here.
All I know is that, no pun intended, I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for Mr. Wick and hope that he’ll be successful in this film—and hopefully without such a severe loss. The man has definitely suffered more than enough already in the past two films, and there’s still the entirety of the third one to face!
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