'John Wick: Chapter 4' – top takeaways from the first trailer

The teaser was revealed at San Diego Comic-Con and shows a host of new star villains for the former hitman to reckon with

The fourth John Wick film will incorporate all the elements that made the series a cult favourite. Photo: Thunder Road Pictures

The first trailer of John Wick: Chapter 4 has been released, and it shows the neo-noir assassin still has plenty of tooth and claw left in him.

In the first three films, we saw the taciturn Wick (played brilliantly by Keanu Reeves) take on the mafia families of Tarasov and D'Antonio — as well as droves of his former cut-throat colleagues — in a series of bloody encounters that put him in the crosshairs of the High Table, the underworld’s supreme authority.

So, what can we expect from the fourth Wick film, which according to the trailer is simply named John Wick and will be released on March 24 next year.

The minute-long clip, revealed at the San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, offered some hints.

Wick around the world

The fourth chapter of John Wick will seemingly incorporate all the tried-and-tested elements that has made the series a cult favourite. From gun and sword fights in strobe-lit nightclubs to high-speed car chases, it seems the adrenalin will not be dwindling for what has been reported to be the penultimate film in the series.

If anything, it might be even more high-octane than its predecessors. Director Chad Stahelski and Reeves revealed at the San Diego Comic-Con that the fourth film will take place across five countries: Japan, US, France, Germany and Jordan.

We see glimpses of these countries in the trailer, including a fight scene in a luminous, mirrored hall decked with Japanese art and samurai armour, as well as a scene at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

More stellar baddies

Wick is only as formidable as his opponents, and the trailer shows there will be a stellar group of foes for Wick to contend with, including Ip Man star Donnie Yen, It actor Bill Skarsgard, Westworld’s Hiroyuki Sanada and Stowaway’s Shamier Anderson.

Who’s making a comeback?

We’re likely to see Ian McShane return as the film’s deuteragonist Winston, as well as Lance Reddick as the enigmatic Continental Hotel concierge Charon.

Laurence Fishburne will reprise his role as the Bowery King, who forms an alliance with Wick to take down the High Table.

We see the king around the halfway mark of the minute-long trailer, raising the idiosyncratic Wick black suit, and asking: “You ready, John?”

One star who is not likely to return for the fourth film is Halle Berry. The Oscar-winning actress, who plays Sofia Al-Azwar in John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum, told IGN in February that Sofia will not appear in the fourth Wick film, but she did hint at a possible spin-off.

“There could possibly be a Sofia … her own movie," Berry said. "So she might not be in John Wick, but she might be doing her own thingy-thingy.”