2025's Ballerina.

John Wick and his solo movies have been the franchise's main attractions thus far, and Ballerina risks not appealing to fans of the Baba Yaga by centering around an unfamiliar character, even though she is played by A-lister Ana de Armas. The filmmakers seem to acknowledge this fact and have John Wick appearing in a cameo alongside de Armas in the movie. Still, there is an aspect of Ballerina that makes it an exciting addition to the franchise.

Ballerina Is About Eve Maccaro's Journey To Become An Assassin

Ballerina Gives Eve The Origin Film John Wick Never Got

While John Wick has been at the center of four thrilling action movies, de Armas' film puts a new spin on such beloved tales by following her character as she's still training to be an assassin. She may be on a path of revenge like Wick, but Eve is far more than just a female version of Reeves' character. The way Eve parallels him in her origin story makes Ballerina a fresh and compelling chapter in the ongoing John Wick saga.

According to the film's director, Len Wiseman, Ballerina is about Eve "becoming an assassin," while John Wick differs in his four films because he is trying to leave his life as an assassin behind (via Empire). In the same interview, de Armas added that, for Eve, "When you're young, and that emotional, that rage and instinct of going for what you want means you approach the job differently." This means she makes mistakes, putting her at a very different level than Wick.

The John Wick films never depicted what it was like for a child like Eve to grow up training and fighting in the High Table's criminal underworld in great detail. John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum gave a glimpse at the intense physical training the Ruska Roma ballerinas must go through to become assassins. However, Ballerina will show more of the hardships that Eve and her peers had to endure in their training, shining a new light on the harsh, secret society that Wick inhabited for several years.

Ballerina Being An Origin Movie Makes It Completely Different From Keanu Reeves' John Wick Films

Ballerina Doesn't Repeat The John Wick Movies By Featuring A Different Perspective

The main John Wick movies depict their titular character as a notorious and highly-skilled assassin with years of experience under his belt. However, while Eve does train under the Ruska Roma, the same tribe of assassins that raised Wick, she isn't as skilled a fighter as he is, making her battles more challenging for her. Her combat style is also vastly different. This makes for new possibilities for the franchise in of storytelling and fight scenes.

While Wick's quest for revenge started late in his life, Eve's journey to avenge her father's death began when she was a child, making it a huge part of her character growing up and giving her a completely different journey from Wick's.

Ballerina also shows how Eve was orphaned as a youth following her father's murder and how she was taken in by Winston. Wick's films don't even depict him when he was a child, solely focusing on his days as a veteran killer. While Wick's quest for revenge started late in his life, Eve's journey to avenge her father's death began when she was a child, making it a huge part of her character growing up and giving her a completely different journey from Wick's.

John Wick's Origin Story Will Probably Never Be Explored

John Wick's Origins Are Best Left Unexplored On The Big Screen

Though Reeves' character died at the end of John Wick: Chapter 4, the franchise will continue to explore his character through Ballerina, which takes place between the third and fourth chapters. Wick will also appear in another prequel film, which will only center around him taking on his "Impossible Task." He completed this mystery mission so he could retire from his life of crime and marry his wife, who died before the events of 2014's John Wick.

The John Wick prequel will be an animated movie, though Reeves has been confirmed to voice his character.

While the prequel movie will explore some aspects of Wick's life before his first film, it's unlikely that he will have his complete origin story as an assassin explored in the film. The third and fourth John Wick movies already revealed his family and mentors in the criminal underworld as he went on the run. This gave viewers enough information about who John was before the first film and how he was brought up as an assassin, making a prequel film depicting such details seem redundant.

Also, given his fearsome reputation as the Baba Yaga, it seems best that Wick's full origins aren't explored in a prequel. A lot of the terror surrounding Wick is based around the unknown, as the films don't reveal everything about his brutal, blood-stained past. This forces the audience to imagine what kind of horrible actions he committed to get to where he was at the start of the first film. By showing too much of Wick's origin, the franchise would jeopardize the frightening but alluring mystery of his character.

Ballerina's Assassin Origin Story Approach Is Refreshing For The John Wick Franchise

The John Wick Formula Won't Get Too Repetitive

By introducing an entirely new character with a unique origin story, Ballerina effectively distinguishes itself and Eve from John Wick and his movies. This is very different from focusing on a character already established in previous films, which could've been done with popular assassins like Sofia (Halle Berry), Caine (Donnie Yen), or Akira (Rina Sawayama). The alternate approach leaves room for plenty of surprises in Ballerina, as nothing specific about Eve's character or backstory has been revealed in prior films.

Since Ballerina also centers around a female assassin, the film presents the world of John Wick in a new way, as it has traditionally been viewed through its male protagonist. Audiences only got a glimpse into the world of ballerinas like Eve in John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum when Reeves' character was on the run. The franchise now has the chance to witness the darker corners of the John Wick universe through the eyes of someone who actually inhabits them.

Though it won't be the same as previous films in the franchise, From the World of John Wick: Ballerina justifies its existence with such a unique approach to its story. Through Eve, audiences will learn more about the world of the High Table with her as she trains to become a professional assassin. By refusing to replicate the John Wick movies' formula, Ana de Armas' picture avoids looking like a repeat of what has come before.

Source: Empire