Helen Wick, the wife of John Wick: Chapter 4. Although Helen died before the first John Wick movie, she has actually appeared in every installment of the franchise through flashbacks and photographs, being portrayed by Bridget Moynahan. Before the movies began, Helen was a famous photographer who met her future husband John Wick at a restaurant, with the two quickly falling in love. John Wick’s wife was the reason he left the hitman business, and she would posthumously be the reason he came out of retirement.
The original John Wick movie begins with Keanu Reeves’ hitman grieving Helen’s death as he begins to care for a puppy, which is the last gift that his wife secretly left him. After John’s dog is killed and the car Helen bought him is stolen, the grieving assassin leaves retirement to take revenge, thus kicking off the franchise’s greater conflict. Helen’s death has an overarching influence on John Wick’s road to revenge and his strained desire to leave the hitman business behind again, with the character continuing to be one of the most important protagonists despite her fate. Death surrounds John Wick even before the franchise starts, kicking off with the tragic circumstances of his wife’s ing.
John Wick's Wife, Helen, Died Of A Terminal Illness Before The First Movie
While most deaths in the John Wick movies are due to action-filled gunfights, personal attacks, and explosive fights, the very first casualty is off-screen and much quieter. Helen died of a terminal illness shortly before the 2014 John Wick movie, though the franchise doesn’t explicitly identify the illness. John Wick’s wife was sick for a long time before her death, leaving her time to arrange for John to be given hope through a puppy and make peace with her own fate.
Since John and Helen were only married for five years, the John Wick movies suggest that her terminal illness loomed over a significant portion of their relationship. Throughout each movie, Helen is either referenced or seen in photos that John ensures are kept safe from his enemies. John’s dedication to these tasks and preserving his memory of Helen prove how much love he had for her and how deeply his grief still affects him, which continues through John Wick: Chapter 4's story.
How Helen's Death Defined John Wick's Story
John Wick’s wife was the reason he did one last job for Viggo Tarasov in order to retire, and it was her death that would incite his vengeful return to the criminal underworld. Helen’s two major gifts to John, the vintage car and the beagle Daisy, are the catalysts for his return to his career of violence and killing, as the mobsters in John Wick’s original movie had taken two of the greatest reminders of his wife. John Wick: Chapter 2 then sees Keanu Reeves’ action character face the mobster that he made a blood oath to in order to leave the assassin world and live a peaceful life with Helen.
Throughout each movie, John’s major motivations stem back to Helen, with many of John Wick's villains becoming his enemy due to the actions he took to be with Helen before her death. John wouldn’t have retired from being a hitman if he hadn’t met Helen, but he also never would have come back if it hadn't been for her sad demise. John Wick’s story is inherently tethered to John’s grief over his wife Helen’s death, his love for her and the life they shared, and his efforts to grant her wish that he finds peace in his future. Of course, he has to defeat the world’s most dangerous and powerful criminal organizations for that to happen.
