Every Major Character In John Wick: Chapter 4, Ranked

The following post contains spoilers for "John Wick: Chapter 4"

It almost seems impossible to believe now, but when the first "John Wick" came out, much of its appeal lay in its simplicity. Keanu Reeves played a retired assassin whose dog gets killed, and he spends the rest of the movie wreaking vengeance on everyone involved. Everyone wore black, the characters didn't talk much, and Reeves' Wick was all business.

Three sequels in, and we get 11 character posters — an indication of how insanely complex this world has become. In a reality where almost everyone is a secret assassin (or part of a hidden network that competes against or coexists with assassins), rules governing codes of conduct are handed down from on high while tattooed girls with cat-eye glasses (they've switched to contacts in "Chapter 4," apparently) man a secret switchboard monitoring bounties and transgressions. The Continental Hotels around the world provide safe, neutral ground until they don't, and each time, some major new players with varying shapes, backgrounds, and competing motivations emerge. Lots of them get killed. Some make it to the next sequel. And then there's a reported TV prequel on the way, too.

Now that "Chapter 4" is out in theaters, let's look at all those characters on the posters, both new and old, and see how they measure up to their images.

As a matter of objective fact, Akira (Rina Sawayama) is, in many ways, the best character. She's right that her father shouldn't harbor a fugitive. She correctly blames John for recklessly endangering them. And her grudge against Caine is so legit that he matter-of-factly tells her he'll be expecting her to come to collect.

However, in movie terms —man, what a killjoy! Imagine being the only character in a story who's anti-killing when the whole point of the story is killing. Fortunately, she is also very good at delivering death at short range with a bow and arrows. She's also not stupid enough to take out her anger on John Wick, even though she'd have every right to. Unlike everyone else in the story, she seems fully aware of his "plot armor." Only when it fails, as we see in the post-credits scene, does she have to behave the way an action movie protagonist would because only in the end has she become one.

From how he refers to his daughter in the third person to her face to the concealed weapons he has at the ready everywhere, Koji Shimazu (Hiroyuki Sanada), the manager of Osaka's Continental Hotel, is a man of many secrets. He's also a man of deep loyalties. Knowing full well that harboring John Wick will get him the maximum punishment accorded by High Table law, he does so anyway. But who wouldn't do a favor for Keanu Reeves?

"Fools talk, cowards are silent ... wise men listen," says Shimazu, who seems to forget the last part of his statement when he squanders the chance to live that Caine (Donnie Yen) gives him. However, as we see in the post-credits sequence, Caine's subsequent killing of the aggrieved manager seems entirely likely to bite him in the butt, possibly in future spin-off movies. It's just a shame Sanada's character is so definitively dead that his only hope for returning is in flashbacks.

Bill Skarsgård, formerly "IT's" Pennywise the Clown, goes for a different type of evil in the Wick-verse. Like a Bizarro version of Leonardo DiCaprio's Jay Gatsby, he adopts a French accent and a sociopath's demeanor as the Marquis de Gramont, a prominent member of the High Table whose drastic solution to the John Wick problem is to demolish any Continental Hotel that opens its doors to him. In the spirit of so many elites, he's a strict constructionist when it comes to rules he likes and a cheater when it comes to those he doesn't. However, for a guy in such a high position in the world of assassins, he doesn't seem like the type to have earned it, preferring to kill and maim in situations where his authority and superior henchman numbers give him a decided advantage. It's this trait that ultimately proves to be his undoing, as he's also an attention hog. In a world where disappearing into the shadows like a ghost is a trait to be admired, it's a bold gambit that one shouldn't play against the Boogeyman, Baba Yaga.

Exaggerations aside, the Marquis works as an arch-villain because he reminds us of the villains in our world. He's a boss who forces bad choices, a landlord abusing the eviction rules, and a coward when pushed onto a level playing field.

Having played the Kurgan in the original "Highlander," Clancy Brown has a fair bit of experience with secret societies, arcane rules, and duels. He's a bit old to be in the thick of the action now, but he's the perfect enforcer. Just as the immortals of "Highlander" had to respect hallowed ground, so too must the killers of "John Wick" respect the Continental. But when they don't do that, Harbinger comes in to lay down the law.

However, unlike many antagonists in the "John Wick" movies, Harbinger is genuinely impartial, refusing to be swayed by appeals to emotion. And unlike the Marquis, he does apply all rules equally. That works against John Wick and Winston Scott's (Ian McShane) personal appeals for second chances, but he can also work in their favor when the other guys try to bend the rules. Tough but fair, he clearly earned his position of respect and trust. Brown carries himself accordingly, like someone with whom one does not want to mess. We needn't see what he's done to get there to believe that he can do it.

The Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) doesn't get a whole lot to do in this one besides driving a boat and stomping around the sewers yelling semi-biblical quotes like "I am the way!" or less religiously, "You are now in the presence of the motherf***ing king!" with all the aplomb of Brian Blessed's Prince Vultan from "Flash Gordon." There's so much swagger to him that his scenes opposite John Wick feel more like Apollo Creed and Rocky than they do Morpheus and Neo.

There's a tiny bit of plot involving his eye toward expanding his empire of homeless urban underground dwellers and sanctuaries, which could be a topic for an entire spin-off film. Laurence Fishburne's character also gets all the good references, from the Nirvana-style "married/buried" wordplay to a dramatic cut from a match to the desert just like another Lawrence — namely the cinematic one "of Arabia."

John Wick probably speaks less in the fourth film than he ever has, but when he does open his mouth, it's often to emphasize that "Yeeeah!" is the new Keanu Katchphrase™, replacing "Whoa!" The other thing he likes to say is a first-syllable-stressed "going, as in "I'm GO-ing to kill them all!" or "I'm GO-ing to need a gun." 

Sans dog (mostly), Wick must rely on his inherent charisma to hold our attention this time, so it's a good thing he's played by Keanu Reeves. Everyone loves Keanu Reeves now. Remember when Francis Ford Coppola's "Bram Stoker's Dracula" came out and everyone bagged on Reeves and his fake English accent like it was the worst affront to cinema ever? Times change. John Wick doesn't — much. He still relies heavily on armbar or leg grapevine takedowns into headshots, but he uses his brain as well. The way he plays out the final confrontation with the Marquis is some smart thinking. It's a kind of pistol poker that relies on his ability to read everybody just right.

Nevertheless, if we were Parisian commuters, we'd despise him so much for what he does at the Arc de Triomphe traffic circle.

Effortlessly stealing the spotlight from John Wick on several occasions, Caine is almost too good. It's not entirely a fair contest. Keanu Reeves is working with a low-key Zen intensity, while Donnie Yen plays multiple archetypes quite broadly. Specifically, he's a riff on Zatoichi, the blind swordsman who's been the subject of many a movie, but he also has that Mr. Miyagi quality of an old man who can snap into action and the dry taunts of a James Hong character. It's a cliche in action movies for a sword to be concealed inside a cane, but Caine skips a step, blatantly using a sword as a walking stick — not that he needs weapons. He has the punching power and style of Popeye the Sailor Man.

The only frustrating thing about Caine is that he's supposed to fight John Wick to the death, and he never actually does. Their ability to stay besties while attempting to murder each other, however, is almost heartwarming.

Ian McShane usually plays such hardass characters that it's weird to see him as both a gentleman of such refined tastes as Winston Scott and in this film, a man who has lost everything and is a decided underdog. Asked what he is by the Bowery King, he responds, "Aggrieved." He's lost his top concierge, Charon (Lance Reddick), and there's the mildest hint of a subtext that the unflappable employee may have been more than simply what his tombstone states: a "friend."

However, what he does have left is John Wick. And Wick requires no manipulation to plot a course of vengeance since he was headed in that direction anyway. The Marquis may not grant him a second chance, but he can make his own, thank you very much. That's not an ironic thanks, either. In a world of ruffians, Winston remains unfailingly polite. Just ask "Jonathan."

Scott Adkins is one of Film Twitter's favorite martial artists, the same way Nathan Fillion used to be the fan-favorite choice for every superhero part. That hasn't translated to mainstream success yet, despite his incredible fighting skills, rate of cranking out 3 or 4 movies a year, and appearances in DTV sequels like "Undisputed II," "Hard Target 2," and the theatrical "The Expendables 2." Part of the reason he hasn't broken through is he often displays the personality of a damp dishrag when reading dialogue, preferring to let feet and fists do the talking.

Something happened this time around because in "John Wick Chapter 4," he is all personality. Donning a fat suit, fake gold teeth, and affecting a German accent, he's like a "Dick Tracy" villain for the new millennium. Brendan Fraser may have won the Oscar in a giant plus-size costume, but Adkins fights in one, behaving like a grade-A ham while also looking the part. Prosthetics set his inner (over)actor free, and they don't hamper the skills that garnered him fame. As Keanu Reeves of yesteryear might say, "Whoa."

As a tracker, Mr. Nobody (Shamier Anderson) occupies an interesting role in this reality. He'll go after bounties — but only when the price gets high enough to be worth his while. To raise the price, he may even help his potential quarry evade death, making them more valuable. He also serves an essential plot purpose by having a dog since John leaves his with the Bowery King for the entire movie this time around. True, it's a bit contrived just so that, late in the game, Mr. Nobody can be surprised that John Wick is a dog lover — despite that being one of only two character traits the title character has.

One might consider it equally impossible to find fault with Nobody's course of action during the climax. He sits back to watch, grabs a beer, and shares it with his canine buddy. He's awfully chill for a guy who's never getting the $40 million he was promised.

How could we not put Charon at No. 1? He's the glue that holds this whole franchise together, and Lance Reddick's untimely death right before the film's release makes his character's exit from the franchise even more poignant and painful. Delivering Ned Kelly's apparent last words, "Such is life," in a perfect deadpan, he meets his fate with all the effortless cool he projected across the past three films. Was he more than a mere friend to Winston? We'll never know. What we do know is the Marquis probably should have shot Winston instead. The unflappable Charon would have continued his duties, perhaps with mild, minor acts of subversion. Winston's a bit more passionate about such things — which would have made them a good couple if they were one. Time to revisit the previous installments for clues, y'all.

One more thing: Reddick was 60? Really? Like the mythological Charon, the eternal ferryman taking gold coins in exchange for the passage of souls down the river Styx, he seemed ageless. His own soul will be in our hearts forever. 

Rest in peace, Lance Reddick. Reign forever, Charon.