John Leguizamo Says He Won’t Be Returning To The John Wick Franchise

The John Wick franchise is on the verge of a comeback that could see the return of its biggest star despite the events of his last adventure, but one big name from the start of the film series likely won’t be coming back regardless.

John Wick has been a mainstay of the one-man army action movie scene since the first film hit theaters in 2014, following its titular character’s reluctant return to his life as a hitman. The first film was a success and would spawn multiple sequels, culminating in a widely well-regarded fourth film that served as a finale to the whole saga. The fourth movie also saw the titular character succumb to his injuries after the film’s climactic duel, a fact that franchise leading man Keanu Reeves seems pretty darn convinced of himself.

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Despite that very final and fitting end to the John Wick saga, there’s still a lot more to come from the world the films built up, with more than one spinoff on the way and more in development. The franchise’s director has also given some positive updates on John Wick: Chapter 5, which may or may not bring Reeves back to reprise the titular role, but John Leguizamo, who plays engineer, illegal chop-shop operator and longtime friend of Reeves’ character, probably won’t be coming back. In a recent exclusive interview with Collider, Leguizamo weighed in on a potential return to the franchise, revealing that he’s not particularly enthused about how his character was treated in his last appearance. “Yeah…Well… I mean, I was cut out of 2, so I was not the happiest camper. I had a whole backstory and everything, but I don’t want to get into all that,” he revealed, going further when asked if he’d come back to return John’s car as promised in-universe. “I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one.”

The John Wick Franchise Could Use A Returning Star Like Leguizamo

Considering the approach that the creative team is taking to a fifth entry requires that the writers find a new storyline to draw on completely removed from the conclusive end that John Wick 4 gave fans, there’s a good chance that Leguizamo would be invited back. As a character portrayed as a longtime friend and ally of the main character, any prequel or side story featuring Reeves would realistically call for Aurelio to return. The John Wick franchise isn’t the only one that’s drawn this sort of ire from the prolific star, as Leguizamo was slated to play Spider-Man: Homecoming’s Vulture before ceding the role to Michael Keaton. Leguizamo was promised another role within the franchise but turned it down when it came around, as the role offered wasn’t worth his time.

While this is a pretty disappointing state of affairs, there’s still time for things to change, as John Wick 5 is certainly a long way off at the moment. The real focus point of the franchise at the moment is the upcoming spin-off From The World of John Wick: Ballerina, which centers on Ana de Armas and her new character, Eve Macarro. Considering the franchise’s prior unremarkable spin-off is a bad sign for Ballerina, that might change soon enough. Regardless of the developments on that end, fans can only hope that the creative team will be able to make things right for Leguizamo and get him back on board for more John Wick in the future.

The first three John Wick films are available to stream on Hulu, while Chapter 4 is available to stream on Starz.

John Wick

A retired hitman is drawn back into the criminal underworld.

Created by

Derek Kolstad

TV Show(s)

The Continental

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Source: Collider