An anime movie set in the John Wick universe is now in development, following news about Adult Swim’s new anime series Lazarus announced at New York Comic Con. Both projects involve Chad Stahelski, the director of all four John Wick films.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the anime film will serve as a prequel, showing the “impossible task” that made Keanu Reeves’s John Wick leave his assassin life behind. Lionsgate, through Summit Entertainment, owns the John Wick franchise.
When asked if the John Wick anime would focus on the “impossible task” that let John retire and live a married life, Stahelski responded,
Talking about the John Wick franchise and his role as its “gatekeeper,” Stahelski said,
The announcement of the John Wick anime movie is another example of Hollywood entering the anime scene. As kids, teens, and young adults remain captivated by popular anime like Jujutsu Kaisen, My Hero Academia, Dandadan, and indie films like Look Back, North American companies are trying to connect with the same audience by turning American stories into anime. The results vary.
For example, Netflix struggled with its live-action adaptations of Death Note and Cowboy Bebop but succeeded with One Piece. Now, Netflix is working on an anime remake of One Piece with Wit Studio. They’ve also created shows like Castlevania, Terminator, and Tomb Raider, with more projects coming, like Devil May Cry, The Witcher, and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell.
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Stahelski isn’t new to the anime world. The John Wick director is also involved in Lazarus, an upcoming action anime series by Cowboy Bebop creator Shinichiro Watanabe for Adult Swim’s Toonami on Cartoon Network. At New York Comic Con 2024, Stahelski shared that he loves Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, while Watanabe is a fan of the John Wick movies.
Stahelski helped produce a few episodes of Lazarus, though he didn’t work on Episode 1, which was praised during its preview at Comic-Con. Lazarus is set to release in 2025.
The John Wick franchise has grown a lot since the first movie came out in 2014. Along with a spinoff film, a possible John Wick 5 hasn’t been ruled out, even though John Wick 4 was thought to be the last. Meanwhile, Keanu Reeves will voice Shadow the Hedgehog in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which comes out on December 20, 2024.
He’ll also voice Shadow in the Sonic x Shadow Generations story pack, releasing December 12, 2024. Reeves was also expected to return for Constantine 2, but there’s been little news about the sequel to the 2005 DC Comics film.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter