During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter entertainment news source, the co-creator and director of the John Wick franchise Chad Stahelski revealed that they planned on having the John Wick anime be a prequel film. Stating that the film will show "at least some" of the "impossible task" that John Wick performed to retire before the story of the first live-action film.
Chad Stahelski has played a large part in the John Wick franchise's success. Having directed all four of the John Wick live-action films, as well as producing next year's From the World of John Wick: Ballerina spinoff film. Despite all of that he is no stranger to anime, he is helping with designing action sequences for the upcoming anime by Shinichiro Watanabe and MAPPA's science-fiction action anime for Adult Swim titled Lazarus.
Stahelski also stated this in earlier interviews last year showing his love for anime and how he is excited for a John Wick anime. He is discussing the other John Wick prequel series The Continental before mentioning the anime part. "So we're really looking forward to that [The Continental]; we're really excited about that because … we're doing a John Wick anime because I love Japanese anime so much. So to create all the cool stories that anime could probably achieve better than we could and the TV show to expand that world, and we'll still get our fix, you know what I mean? And have all the fun."
For those not familiar with John Wick, here is a short trailer and synopsis for you to get a little bit of the details about the franchise.
John Wick Synopsis: When a retired hit man is forced back into action by a brutal Russian mobster, he hunts down his adversaries with the ruthlessness that made him a crime underworld legend in John Wick, a stylish tale of revenge and redemption.
After the sudden death of his beloved wife, John Wick receives one last gift from her, a beagle puppy named Daisy, and a note imploring him not to forget how to love. But John’s mourning is interrupted when his 1969 Boss Mustang catches the eye of sadistic thug Iosef Tarasov who breaks into his house and steals it, beating John unconscious and leaving Daisy dead. Unwittingly, they have just reawakened one of the most brutal assassins the underworld has ever seen.
John’s search for his stolen vehicle takes him to a side of New York City that tourists never see, a hyper-real, super-secret criminal community, where John Wick was once the baddest guy of all.
What are your thoughts on the news? Are you a John Wick fan? How many people do you think John Wick will slay in the anime? Let us know your thoughts and guesses down below!