Could John Wick Still Be Alive At The End Of Chapter 4?

Yeah ... we're thinking he's gonna be back.

"John Wick: Chapter 4" astounded audiences earlier in 2023 when it seemingly killed off the world's greatest assassin — John Wick (Keanu Reeves). After his duel with Marquis Vincent Bisset de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård), where Caine (Donnie Yen) is the stand-in, John suffers severe wounds. Through classic Wick trickery, he kills the Marquis, but he's bleeding badly. He walks down some steps before collapsing. At that point, it cuts to a graveyard where Winston (Ian McShane) and the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) look at their friend's grave. His headstone reads, "Loving Husband," and he's buried next to his wife, which is all he ever wanted. 

It seems like a fitting end to the character's journey, but it's unlike a studio to kill off such a profitable character. Lionsgate is obviously still interested in continuing this franchise, as there's a prequel spin-off coming out on Peacock called "The Continental: From the World of John Wick." Plus, "John Wick 5" has been confirmed, although this could theoretically be about other characters within the same universe. 

Where there's a will, there's a way and more "John Wick" movies just won't feel right without the titular character. And there's ample evidence from "John Wick: Chapter 4" that Keanu Reeves isn't done with this franchise yet. 

There's a quote from Lady Margot Fenring in "Dune" that goes, "Never count a Human as dead until you see his body. And even then you can make a mistake." 

Notably, viewers never see John Wick actually die in "Chapter 4." He collapses on the stairs, and the film cuts to his grave. A lot could've happened between those two moments, and who's to say John doesn't still have a few more tricks up his sleeve? Besides, Winston has ample power and influence to fake John's death. He could've gotten John out of the assassin game, faked his death, and brought a decoy back to the United States to stage a burial. 

All this said, it's a bit odd for such a prominent character to effectively die off-screen. Caine shoots John a few times, but he's definitely faced worse throughout these films. A good doctor, which John would likely have access to, could probably stitch him up and send him on his way. But perhaps he found a way to leave his violent life behind once and for all (until he needs to come out of retirement for a sequel).

Speaking of Winston, he seems like he knows more than he's letting on during the final scene of "John Wick: Chapter 4." The Bowery King asks him, "Where do you think he is? Heaven or Hell?" Winston responds, "Who knows?"

It's an enigmatic answer, hinting at the nature of John Wick's legacy in this universe. However, if Winston did help John fake his death, it's also a clever way to suggest that John could be anywhere. He could be in Heaven, Hell, or maybe even a pizza place in the Bronx, just trying to relax for once. 

The Bowery King takes the response in stride, smiling and chuckling. It raises the question of how much does he really know. He wasn't at the duel, so he may believe John's truly dead, too. But he was also someone who knew John better than most, so perhaps his question was meant to gauge what Winston knows about the assassin's fate. 

Someone else is there when Winston and the Bowery King visit John Wick's grave. They have John's trusted pitbull with them, whom he adopted at the end of the first movie. John made sure to keep the pup out of combat, and he's been a loyal companion. And he's incredibly intelligent, as evidenced by him managing to find his way to the Bowery King's lair after being dropped off in a taxi in "John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum."

After the brief exchange, the camera cuts to the pitbull, panting on the grass. He soon perks up his ears and looks to the side, almost like he caught a scent of something. What if there's someone else standing to the side this entire time? It could be possible the pitbull noticed his old master's smell, and John Wick could be watching in the distance, not wanting to say hello to his old friends and knowing he must remain hidden. 

In film and television, dogs often sense things before others. That quick moment may hint that John Wick is still alive, and one of the only beings who knows is his loving pet. 

The best piece of evidence that John Wick is still alive may come from an overlooked moment in "John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum." Early in the movie, John sees a doctor to help tend to some wounds before he officially becomes excommunicado. The doctor helps him to an extent, but he's worried other people might realize what he's done and come after him. He wants John to shoot him in two non-fatal locations so that he can claim he was under duress. Knowing there are non-fatal places to shoot someone, it's worth going over the final duel one more time. 

Both John and Caine get three shots. In the first round, Caine shoots John in the arm, which might as well be the equivalent of a paper cut in the "John Wick" universe. In the second round, Caine gets John around the shoulder, which is a normal spot to hit someone in action movies because it usually doesn't do anything. However, the doctor in "Chapter 3" asks John to shoot him by the collarbone, too, suggesting it's a non-fatal area. For the final round and most significant blow, Caine shoots John in the stomach. He loses a lot of blood, and this would seem to be the finishing blow. 

However, the doctor asks John to shoot him in the stomach first, right below his floating rib. Therefore, if Caine is secretly on John's side, he would've known to shoot John in the same place, which would've been painful but not deadly. After all, they needed to make the duel look legitimate so that the Marquis would let his guard down, allowing John to kill him. 

With all of this evidence, it appears John Wick may still cling to life.