John Wick animated prequel: will it capture the original's feel?

Lionsgate has given the green light to the previously announced John Wick animated film, and Keanu Reeves has closed a deal to reprise his signature role as the assassin. I love this idea, and the hope that came out of our discussion is that the new film captures the feel of the first movie rather than the later ones.

The original John Wick (2014) starred Keanu Reeves. According to the report, the animated project will go back in time to tell John's story before that first film, as he completes the impossible task that frees him from his obligation to the High Table and earns him the right to be with the love of his life, Helen.

Keanu Reeves Closes a Deal to Reprise His Role as John Wick in the Animated Prequel

The report's wording threw me at first. Its headline said Reeves was returning for an animated project, but the line "in addition" made me think a separate new movie was being announced alongside it. If that were true, I thought, it should have been the lead story.

Reading it back, it was pointed out that the animated film had been talked about before. The new part was that Reeves is returning in it. So the report was just worded strangely. Lionsgate greenlit the animated film, and in addition to that, Reeves will play the role again. That makes more sense.

The John Wick Prequel Could Show How He Earned the Baba Yaga Name

We're both on board with this. The appeal of an animated prequel came through in the discussion: a young John Wick, showing how he got out in the first place, why he got the Baba Yaga name, and why people came to think it was best to leave him alone.

A familiar warning came up here too. Don't make it for too much money, because it doesn't need a huge budget. The suggestion was to make it for whatever can be done in animation and keep it to around an hour and a half.

Why the Animated John Wick Film Needs the Feel of the First Movie

I hope that they capture the feel of the first movie as opposed to the last, and that point drew agreement. The later films became much more like a game. They're fun to watch, and we both love all the John Wick movies, but the first one was called far superior to any of the others, and easily the favorite.

The reason is that John still feels human in the first one. He feels like he could be killed. By the third and fourth films, he can come off a building and be fine, with no sense he might die. Watch the first one again, and when he falls down those stairs, he's in bad shape. He gets hurt. It's the best because it's a character piece.

The series did turn into a superhero franchise, and that was welcomed in the discussion, with the view that there isn't one John Wick movie that isn't loved. It was also called a smart and fun way to grow the films, as they got bigger and more cartoonish and kept going with it.

But the human quality of the first film is the core of the character. If this animated film is going back to the time before that story, it has to have that same feel.