With the most recent news of John Wick 4 revealing it’ll be released on the same day as The Matrix 4, fans of both mega-franchises are understandably excited. With the elation comes the whirlwind of fan theories correlating the two, already percolating from the fact that John Wick: Chapter 2 introduced Keanu’s old Matrix alum Laurence Fishburne as the Bowery King.
The third outing in the John Wick Universe, Parabellum, left Wick an enemy of the High Table and all of its resources, despite the fact that he painstakingly re-entered the assassin fold and had all of his sanguinary privileges restored. Fans have presumed Wick will continue to go after the High Table with several new allies, but then again, it could all be another Matrix simulation.
PLAUSIBLE: JOHN WICK TAKES OUT THE HIGH TABLE
John Wick placed himself in the cross-hairs of the High Table, the body of authority figures that governs all contracts, as soon as he accepted an assignment to kill one of its members in John Wick: Chapter 2. Since then, they’ve made it their mission to make his life hell. He knows he’ll never be free of the assassins life until he destroys them.
The destruction of the High Table would mean chaos and anarchy in the guild of assassins, and while vultures would circle and scramble for remaining control, Wick would be able to retreat into the shadows. They’ve made it clear they won’t stop hunting him until he’s dead.
ABSURD: JOHN WICK IS NEO
Now that we’ve all heard that John Wick 4 and The Matrix 4 are being released on the same day in 2021, fans have surmised that both characters made famous by Keanu Reeves are one and the same. Ironically, it didn’t require the news of the release dates to fuel the fire for this theory.
Some fans have been drawing a correlation between John Wick and Neo for some time, especially since the John Wick films reunite him with the Bowery King aka Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne). They’ve decided that after Neo sacrificed himself to the machines at the end of Revolutions, he re-entered the Matrix as John Wick, as an agent/human hybrid.
PLAUSIBLE: JOHN WICK TEAMS UP WITH WINSTON AND THE BOWERY KING
In Parabellum, the Adjudicator flexed hard on both Winston and the Bowery King. As the authority figures of their respective urban fiefdoms, they were shamed and punished for aiding John Wick, a known fugitive of the High Table’s justice. The experience might make them keen to join John Wick’s crusade of vengeance.
Winston nearly was stripped of his title at the Continental, and the Bowery King was given seven cuts that very nearly killed him. But would it be enough to make them turn their backs on the order of things and go rogue like Wick? Between the two of them, they command considerable respect and followers.
ABSURD: JOHN WICK IS A PREQUEL TO THE MATRIX
An interesting reddit theory that fans have brought up revolves around John Wick not only being a precursor to Neo as we know him in The Matrix, but for the John Wick films to be prequels to the Matrix reality itself. When the machines first made the Matrix, they offered humanity what it wanted but it rejected the principle, causing the machines to think humanity desired chaos/pain to function better.
It doesn’t get more chaotic than the John Wick films, and in a strange way when brawls and gunfights occur, the general public seems to simply go about their business, almost like the mindless programs in the Matrix “crowd scenes”.
PLAUSIBLE: JOHN WICK TAKES REVENGE ON WINSTON
At the tense climax of Parabellum, Winston is on the roof of The Continental with The Adjudicator and John Wick, who has just decimated the High Table’s elite SWAT team and requested a parlay. The three discuss terse terms, which result in Winston shooting Wick several times in the chest, the force of which knocks him over the ledge.
A body is never retrieved from below, and later we see a bruised and bloodied Wick limping into an audience with the Bowery King, also looking the worse for wear. While some fans believe that Winston shot him in non-vital areas to make it appear as though he’d taken care of John Wick for the Adjudicator, the ending is ambiguous enough to suggest Wick would come back to take care of him.
ABSURD: WINSTON WAS MAKING A POWER GRAB
A man like Winston would surely know that a man like John Wick couldn’t be killed by ordinary means. Therefore shooting him on the roof of The Continental as a show of force for The Adjudicator couldn’t have been seen as a mad grab for power.
It would take a legendary execution for the Baba Yaga to be eliminated, and a man as smart as Winston would know that given he understands the meaning of consequences in his line of work. Besides, the Adjudicator is just as likely to return and revoke his managerial status of The Continental anyway.
PLAUSIBLE: JOHN WICK RECRUITS OTHER ASSASSINS
While it would appear John Wick has been waging a one-man war against the High Table and its operatives, there may be other assassins like him that wish to see its downfall. Even assassins he’s personally fought on their behalf, like Zero and Ares, may choose to defect once they realize the High Table views them as expendable.
John Wick certainly commands enough respect with the weight of his reputation, and if he ends up joining forces with Winston, the Bowery King, and even the Ruska Roma, it’s possible that other assassins who’ve been in his predicament will emerge from the shadows and support him.
ABSURD: HUGO WEAVING WILL BE PART OF THE HIGH TABLE
Some ardent fans have theorized that, while it appears to be a reunion of Matrix cast members with Laurence Fishburne and Keanu Reeves, there’s one notable actor missing from the John Wick films; Hugo Weaving. Weaving notably played Neo’s antagonist, Agent Smith, in The Matrix Trilogy.
Having Weaving show up as an elite member of the High Table would be an exciting day for not only Matrix fans, but anyone who enjoys watching him chew the scenery. However, Weaving has gone on record himself as saying that no one has even contacted him about a part in the film.
PLAUSIBLE: REVEALING MORE MEMBERS OF THE HIGH TABLE WILL RAISE THE STAKES
With each new John Wick film, we meet more of the elite members of the High Table. There are a total of 12 seats that are part of the inner circle, and as the franchise grows in popularity, notable actors may wish to secure themselves parts in it. After all, Halle Berry campaigned for her role as an assassin in Parabellum.
As The Adjudicator cautioned, the showdown at The Continental was just the first wave of the assault against John Wick by the High Table. With each new member of the High Table that is revealed the stakes will be raised, as a consensus is determined to take out John Wick before he takes out them.
ABSURD: JOHN WICK TAKES PLACE AFTER THE MATRIX
Because they both feature lots of gun-fu, impeccable wardrobes, and Keanu Reeves, many fans have drawn correlations between the John Wick Trilogy and The Matrix Trilogy. One of many far-flung theories involving a cross-pollination of the franchises features John Wick being in a new simulation after the Matrix is destroyed.
He is essentially a new form of Neo, deprived of his memories of his former existence. Winston is the Architect, and Morpheus is the Bowery King, and the John Wick films become just another entrapment for humans who will never be able to fully disconnect from the Matrix.
