The Ballerina Trailer Confirms Our Biggest Hope About The World Of John Wick

The first "Ballerina" trailer has arrived and given fans an insight into the life of Ana de Armas' assassin, Eve. The footage shows her learning combat at a young age before visiting The Continental and becoming embroiled in the deadly world associated with it. However, while the movie is set to expand the "John Wick" universe, many fans hope to see Keanu Reeves' progenitor return to deliver more high-octane carnage in the upcoming spin-off. The good news, however, is that he's definitely going to be in "Ballerina" — and the trailer confirms it.

Wick appears toward the end of the "Ballerina" trailer, making his presence known to Armas' character after she discusses wanting to find the infamous Baba Yaga. Eve wants to learn how to be like the legendary assassin, but Wick informs the budding killer that they're already very similar. However, while the context of their meeting has yet to be revealed, the cut on Wick's forehead indicates that he's been getting up to no good. Still, we wouldn't have him any other way, right?

Fans will undoubtedly be happy to see Reeves' character in the trailer, though it might be confusing as John Wick is supposed to be dead. Does this mean that he's returned from the grave, or does "Ballerina" take place in a different timeline from the main film series?

Why John Wick is in "Ballerina" is bound to cause some confusion among viewers, but there's actually a simple reason for it. The movie takes place in the timeline between "John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum" and "John Wick: Chapter 4," when Keanu Reeves' assassin was very much alive, albeit sleeping with one eye open due to making so many enemies in the criminal underworld. As such, fans can go into "Ballerina" knowing that he'll survive the deadly scenarios he'll probably find himself in.

Ian McShane — who plays Winston in the franchise — shared some insights into the reasoning behind setting the spin-off during this specific time period. He explained that having it take place after "John Wick: Chapter 4" would spoil the fate of Reeves' character — and ruin fan anticipation for a potential fifth installment.

That's valid reasoning, but "John Wick 5" is confirmed to be in the works already, so fans already believe that the titular assassin survived his stand-off with Caine (Donnie Yen) at the end of the previous movie. Regardless of Wick's health status, however, fans are excited to know that he'll pick up his gun again in "Ballerina."

"Ballerina" is set to be Eve's show, as the story will see her go on a crusade to take down the killers who murdered her family. The trailer makes it clear that she's fairly new to the game, but she's most definitely equipped to kick, punch, and blast her way through swarms of bad guys by herself. This is an opportunity for the franchise to establish a character who's just as compelling as John Wick, but some fans believe that he's still the biggest selling point heading into "Ballerina."

This is certainly the view of YouTuber @Davidflynn99, who believes that the film's promotional campaign will make a big deal out of Keanu Reeves' involvement, even if it's minimal in the grand scheme of things. "Keanu is definitely only in one scene but they are going to advertise the hell out of that one scene," they wrote. A similar view was echoed by @morganram6620, who's pumped to see Reeves in any capacity. "I dont give two Fs if Keanu appears even for [one] minute. I'm going to the theaters to see him for that [one] min."

That said, other fans always expected Reeves to appear in "Ballerina," and they suspect he'll have more rodeos as Wick for years to come. In fact, one commenter predicted that he'll play this character until he's 90, even though "John Wick: Chapter 4" teased his demise. It remains to be seen if "The Matrix" star will continue playing the hitman until then, but most fans probably wouldn't be opposed to it.