Laurence Fishburne may not have been invited back for the fourth installment of one Keanu Reeves franchise, but at least now we know he’s definitely returning for another after The Matrix star confirmed his involvement in John Wick: Chapter 4.
Of course, it was almost a given that his Bowery King would be making an appearance when the third outing ended with the title hero being shot multiple times by Ian McShane’s Winston and falling off a building, only to be scooped up and brought directly to one of the assassin underworld’s other major players.
Reeves and Fishburne’s exchanges leaned into their onscreen history without winking towards the audience, something that can’t be said for Wick demanding guns, lots of guns later on in the film, but based on the latter’s comments in a new interview, it sounds as though the Bowery King will be heading well outside of his comfort zone to lend an assist in Chapter 4.
“I should be going to Berlin within another couple of months or so. I read the script. It’s really, really cool. As much as it’s the same world as the other three films, it’s just deeper. It’s much deeper in terms of the code of the assassin and the relationship that he has with one character in particular… is really the heart and soul of it.”
With Fishburne saying he won’t be required to head to Europe for another couple of months, the Bowery King likely won’t factor too heavily into the plot, but he’s at least set to rehabilitate the legendary hitman in the early stages of the story after he’s left near death at Parabellum‘s conclusion, and the cast continues to fill out as the start of production edges nearer.
Fishburne and McShane will represent the old guard, while in the last couple of weeks, John Wick: Chapter 4 has added Rina Sawayama, Shamier Anderson and martial arts legend Donnie Yen, with It‘s Bill Skarsgård recently entering talks. Things are coming together nicely for the action sequel, then, which arrives in May 2022 after being delayed for a year by the effects of the pandemic.