Four movies, with a fifth in the works, plus a spinoff movie, a prequel series, and a forthcoming TV sequel series. Not bad for what I guess we can now refer to as the John Wick Cinematic Universe, which has a newly revealed TV series — John Wick: Under the High Table, set after the events of the fourth John Wick movie — currently in development at Lionsgate Television (and executive produced by none other than John Wick himself, Keanu Reeves).
According to the official logline for the new series, “John Wick has left the world of the High Table in a tenuous position and a collection of new characters will look to make a name for themselves while some of the franchise stalwart characters remain committed to the old-world order. The series will combine new and old and thrust the Wick universe into a new age.”
It’s worth acknowledging that some fans of the franchise might greet word of the new series with a bit of trepidation, given the tepid response from critics to Peacock’s The Continental — a John Wick prequel series that was built around the franchise’s exclusive and noirish hotel for killers. But setting aside the fact that the critics got that one wrong in my opinion (and in the opinion of many of you, given that The Continental has a solid 78% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes), there are two reasons to let yourself be excited for John Wick: Under the High Table.
First and foremost, even though he’s not expected to appear in the series for obvious reasons (specifically, because of the ending of John Wick: Chapter 4), Reeves is attached to the new series as an executive producer and is reportedly being very hands-on with it. That wasn’t the case with The Continental.
And while Reeves’ involvement is certainly great news all by itself, so is the fact that Chad Stahelski, who directed the Wick movies, is likewise executive-producing. Both men clearly have a fantastic creative partnership and working relationship, with Stahelski turning a story about an assassin who starts out by avenging the death of his dog into a more than $1 billion movie franchise — one that’s not only about killers-for-hire but features highly choreographed, visually stunning action sequences and a criminal underworld replete with its own traditions and lore.
And while the writing isn’t exactly Shakespeare, there’s something about it — straight, to the point, economical, and very memorable — that hooked me from the very beginning. I’m talking about lines like, “It’s not what you did, son, that angers me so; it’s who you did it to,” and that foreboding description of Wick as “the man you send to kill the f*****g boogeyman.” All of which is to say, the new John Wick TV series has a lot to live up to, because movies don’t get much more unpretentiously fun and escapist than these.
