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We already can't wait for the John Wick anime

More super stylized kung fu fights, please.

John Wick in John Wick Chapter 4
Image credit: Lionsgate

If there is any live-action property that would thrive as an anime, it is John Wick. The films’ over-the-top violence and super-stylized presentation lend themselves perfectly to the world of anime. Fortunately, we no longer need to vaguely speculate about the possibility of a John Wick anime – the franchise’s director has confirmed that one is in the works.

Chad Stahelski, who directed all four of the John Wick movies but wasn’t involved in the prequel series The Continental, explained that an anime series was in the works during an upcoming episode of The Discourse podcast for The Playlist website. During a preview of the episode, Stahelski explained that, in addition to another TV series in development, he was creating an anime set in the world of John Wick. “We’re really excited about [the upcoming TV series] because we’re doing that and a Japanese anime because I love Japanese anime so much.”

Why an anime? Apparently, the flexibility of the medium is what has drawn Stahelski to anime. It will allow him “to create all the cool stories that anime could achieve better than we could.” Considering how much of John Wick’s imagery was inspired by Japanese cinema, it isn’t a huge leap to imagine it getting the anime treatment. In the hands of the right studio, this could be a great take on an already stylish franchise.

Both the anime and the new TV show sound like they’re still in pretty early development, so we’ll have to wait a while to see more details about either. However, the more time we spend in the John Wick world the happier we’re going to be.


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Trent Cannon

Trent Cannon: Trent is a freelance writer who has been covering anime, video games, and pop culture for a decade. (He/Him)

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