If there’s one person who’d be top of the list when it comes to seeking advice on how to build out and expand a cinematic universe, then Kevin Feige would obviously be at the top. Thankfully, the mastermind behind the biggest franchise in history managed to spare some time to lend his sage advice to John Wick director Chad Stahelski.
The Multiverse Saga may have seen the Marvel Cinematic Universe embark on its weakest run of critical and commercial form yet, but Feige still changed the face of cinema forever, and those accusations that he’s lost his touch are still fairly wide of the mark. That being said, the acclaim to have greeted Stahelski’s Chapter 4 has once again hinted that John Wick is well-placed to usurp the blockbuster comic book adaptations as the best interconnected mythos in the business.
As fate would have it, then, Stahelski revealed to Looper that Feige offered some pointers on how to keep on keeping on, with the fascinating underground world of contract killers and mysterious tokens continuing to keep the fandom intrigued.
“When I got to do John Wick, and we ended up trying to go the next step to John Wick 2 and John Wick 3, between 2 and 3 and then 3 and 4, I called his people and asked, ‘Hey, I know Kevin’s real busy. Would he mind a meeting?’ You could imagine how busy Kevin is, but both times, he sat me down and gave me a few hours of his time in both instances. He was like, ‘Okay, how can I help?’ I was like, ‘Look, man, I got this John Wick thing. Give me some advice. What’s the best way to handle this? Some people see this as a one-off. Some people see it as a cash grab.'”
To Kevin’s credit, he goes, ‘What do you think?” I told him what I thought, and he very graciously gave me his thoughts on world-building and franchises. I don’t know if you’ve ever interviewed Kevin, but you’re not talking to a businessman. You’re not talking to an executive. You’re talking to a fan. Whatever he’s telling you, he can’t help himself from smiling. Regardless of strategies or methodologies of building a franchise, the one thing that comes across is ‘I love what I do. Follow your heart, follow your gut, be respectful to the fans. Do what you want to see, and you’re going to be okay.'”
As far as how to do that, he’s like, ‘I have 75 years of IP. You’ve got one movie, so it’s going to be a little different.’ He hits you with the reality. You got to earn it, man. But one of the bits of advice I got is make characters you love. Very similar to what the Wachowskis taught me … [he was also] like, ‘Make every frame, make every moment count.’ There are no throwaway scenes, there’s no throwaway performances, there are no background players, foreground players – everything in front of that camera, you got to make it count. John Wick 4 is a culmination of that, and that comes from the Russos, the Wachowskis, and Kevin driving that home for me.”
If you need tips on how to continue broadening and deepening lore as intricate as that of John Wick, then the brains behind the MCU, Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, and The Matrix are fantastic weapons to have in your back pocket, and it’s clear that Stahelski’s ears were wide open.